The Servant of Ice
by Mossmoon
Summary: Russia tries to bribe General Winter into giving him a nice winter. Canada is getting threatening texts on his cell phone.  When America decides to help, everything gets worse. And to make matters hopeless, Canada has to be heard to make sure they live.
1. Rain

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. I am, though, working on my own original novel right now. Perhaps I'll tell you people what it is once I get it published. ;)**

**The main author's note is at the bottom. **

* * *

Russia again looked at the headache pills in his hand. They were strong pills, strong enough so that even when he had a hangover, he wouldn't be able to feel the pain in his head.

But, of course, these pills were not for him. They were for someone much stronger than him who seemed like they really needed it.

"He will like this, da," the Russian muttered to himself, happy that he had found what he needed. "Now I just have to get back to the meeting in time before I am late." He didn't notice the looks strange looks that he got from people who passed by him that were wondering who he was talking to.

Russia then grabbed two other bottles of the painkiller and walked to the counter, unceremoniously dropping the contents in his arms on the counter.

There was then the sound of a tingling bell that indicated that someone had just come into the store. I chilly breeze entered the store, and Russia welcome the cold whole-heartily. The cold reminded him of home, and for some reason, all of the stores in America made him feel at least a bit claustrophobic. Perhaps later he would just lay down in the snow outside. After all, it had just snowed slightly in this state of America's- Ohio, Russia thought he had said- and it seemed like everyone around him was happy about it. For this part of the country, it only snowed after the holidays. or something like that. This year it was special, and it seemed like everyone liked was joyful about it. Perhaps Russia would act happy, too-

"Man, it's so cold outside!" America's voice broke Russia out of his reverie, and in return the older nation glared at him angrily. "I thought Ohio would be nice this time of year. You know, at least slightly warm!"

"If you wanted a warm place for the meeting, then why did you not make it down south? That would make more sense, da?" Russia asked, capturing America's attention.

America rushed over to where Russia was and scanned the contents that the cashier was scanning. "Political troubles, huh?" America asked, "Well, you chose the right pills, that's for sure. I use those when I'm having problems, too. Like during the election season, man those are my lifesavers! But they knock you out like a baby if you take too many of them, just to warn you. Take them right before you go to bed."

Russia looked over at America with his eyebrows arched. Political troubles? What was he talking about? "I am not having political problems. My country is stable, thank you very much. These are for someone much more important than me," he explained, thinking that America would not understand him.

"Oh, like a boss?" America asked seriously.

"Da," Russia told him, rolling his eyes. _America must love his boss, da. _He thought, _But these are for someone more important. _

"Well, I have to go and get my meds now. I'll see you at the meeting. If I'm late, just tall England that I getting some McDonald's. He always falls for that. All right?" America asked, turning from Russia and walking away before he got an answer.

"Your bill is twenty-five dollars and twenty cents, sir," the cashier told him.

_Eight dollars and thirty-three cents for each one of these painkillers? That is a lot, da. Things are so much cheaper in Russia, _Russia thought, giving the cashier the money anyway. _But then again, I have no time to lose. I cannot wait until I get home to get this stuff. And America is known for his medicine nowadays. This will work. _

* * *

Canada was nervous. Recently, he had been getting strange texts on his phone that were very threatening. They were saying strange things like he was going to die during the winter and that he would never see the light of day again.

And, for some reason, he was believing them. It was the simple fact that someone beyond his own borders and his brother had gotten down and had tried- actually _tried- _to find his number, since it, like his entity, is very hard to find. And the only thing the person would has gotten out of it so far is by sending him threatening messages of his people's welfare.

But that wasn't the only reason that he was scared. He could ignore people easily- almost as easily as people ignored him- but now, he had gotten something extremely important.

Apparently, from what the person had told him, the person had kidnapped one of his citizens and was threatening to kill them unless he came to a certain place before sundown.

The place was just on the other side of Lake Erie, and Canada knew that this person was not telling a lie. They were going to kill one of his citizens unless he came to this place.

But he wasn't stupid; he had decided to bring along America earlier this week. They would go together to meet this person and since America would be there, no one would get hurt. He would protect everyone.

At least, that was the plan.

And now, he was waiting for this dumb meeting to end so he could meet his brother and tell him what was happening.

But then again, Canada couldn't see America in the meeting yet. Ever since they had their lunch break, he had disappeared. Russia had told England earlier that he had gone to McDonald's, and they had left it at that.

"Sorry I'm late!" America's voice brought Canada out of his reverie. "I got held up at McDonald's!"

"Just sit down," England ordered gruffly. He had just been in the middle of a speech, and was still holding a graph of his economic plans in his hands. "I will not repeat myself of tell you what you have missed. Ask Canada if you have any questions."

"All right," America told him, sitting down next to Canada. "How are you, little bro?" He whispered, not caring at all about England's speech.

"I need your help," Canada said quickly, a little ashamed that he needed help from his older brother. But that was what they did: lean on each other.

"What do you need help with. I'm here for you, buddy," America told him, squeezing Canada's shoulder.

"Someone...someone..." Canada glanced around at the other nations in the room, worried that someone might overhear Canada talking for once. He didn't want anyone to know that he was having problems. After all, no country wanted to seem weak. "Can we talk about this later, without so many people around?" he asked.

"Of course," America told him in an assuring voice, squeezing Canada's shoulder for comfort. Canada smiled. When had he last seen America this caring and concerned? Maybe his situation was getting better, which meant that his situation would get better two.

"America," England barked, "Focus!"

"Yes, sir!" America shouted jokingly in return.

* * *

After the meeting, Russia headed north. He knew where he needed to take the drugs; the person that he bought them for was just above the Canadian border on the other side of Lake Erie.

_Maybe he will be kind to me this year, _Russia thought gleefully. _After all, I am being kind to him. _

And with that, he got on one of the boats tied to the docks and drove away with it, uncaring about the angry fisherman that he had taken this from.

_This is more important than him, _Russia thought, _he will get another boat. After all, isn't America getting out of this recession of theirs? He will soon have enough money to buy another one. _

And with that, he drove off with his drugs.

* * *

When the meeting ended and they got away from everyone else, Canada didn't waste any time in telling America what the problem was.

America responded in the same way that Canada had thought he would. He had decided that he would visit this guy with Canada, and that one the citizen was safe, he would make sure that this guy would get the justice he deserves.

So, they went to the docks. Earlier, they had decided they would grab one of the government's private boats and get to the place they needed to be. America had said that it was no big deal and apparently they had plenty of every type of boat on that side of the lake.

That worried Canada a little bit, but then again, when was the last time that they had fought? It had been centuries; there was no need to worry.

"All right, so here's the plan," America said again, "We are going over to our side of the lake, finding this guy, saving the damsel in distress, and then I, the hero, shall kick this guy into one of those terrible jails that doesn't have TV!"

_America's jails have TVs? _Canada thought to himself, frowning slightly. He then shrugged, _Well, I have no say in his justice system, anyway. I might as well leave it. _

"That sounds fine," Canada said softly, "As long as everyone is fine in the end."

"Of course!" America cheered, "Everything is always fine when you have the hero around!"

Canada chuckled softly. He hadn't seen this type of America for such a long time. It was nice to finally see him happy and actually mean it.

And quickly, they boarded the boat.

* * *

It didn't take long for either party to get to the other side of the lake, and once their passports were checked, they were off in the city.

It didn't take too long for Canada and America to find the place that they were supposed to find the guy.

But what they saw stunned them. Or, at least, astonished Canada.

"Russia! What are you doing here?" America asked cheerfully, "Do you have a passport over here?"

"No, but my mission here is more important," Russia said, looking over at him coolly, "What are you doing over here? I would think that you would be making sure England was happy in your home. That was what you were hoping to do, da?"

He turned around to face America and Canada, a light blue shopping bag in his hands.

"Hey, is that those painkillers you got earlier? Why didn't you put those in your room? No one would have stolen them," America told him, curious. Canada sighed; he really had some attention problems, but what could you do? He was an individual now, not one of England's colonies.

Russia shrugged, placing the drugs in his coat pocket, "I am giving them to a person that I'm supposed to meet here in a couple minutes. But what about you? Why are you here?"

America waved the question away with his hand. "Someone is just giving my brother a hard time about something. I wanted to meet this person. That's about it," he lied with such an ease that it stunned Canada, making his wonder if this was really his brother.

_He never lied to me, right? _Canada thought worriedly, _I am his brother..._

"Who?" Russia asked, "I never knew you had a brother. Anyway, my friend shall be here shortly. Please do not be a hassle."

America laughed lightheartedly. "When have I ever been a hassle?"

Russia just stared at him coolly and said, "Do not mess this up for me. If you do, you will not get out of here alive. I promise you that."

America chuckled nervously, "Right, I'll not be a hassle. Who is this person, anyway? He must be pretty important."

As he finished saying that, the temperature dropped suddenly. It plummeted from a mild fall temperature to the cold that Canada only knew from way up north. The wind howled and whispered the echoes of a terrible winter that was yet to come. Immediately, Canada wanted to hide. If not for the fact that one of his citizens was probably caught up in all of this, he would have probably ran on the spot. No one beyond his brother would notice him leaving. In fact, no one would probably care if he left. America was too wrapped up in talking to Russia to notice.

"Da, he is." Was all Russia said, obviously effected by the chill. He looked more nervous and had brought out the blue shopping bag again.

Canada grabbed on to his brother's gloved hand, slightly scared about what was going to happen. He felt like he was slowly freezing from the inside out.

Although, America didn't seem effected by the sudden change in temperature, and once Canada noticed this, he stiffened up and tried to act the same way. He needed to be strong. After all, his brother had come here for him.

"Here he comes. I think you will like him, America. He is a very elite general, and you like all of the great generals, da?" Russia told him ominously, "Maybe you have met him before. Or maybe not. After all, you do live quite south of his domain."

Canada shut his eyes and felt his heart skip a beat. He knew this person- no, entity. It was that person who had haunted him as a kid, hurt him when he was young. And Russia was right- he was a great general, probably the greatest of them all. He had destroyed many armies in his lifetime, and had caused a great deal of harm to anyone who came across his vast domain. This legend was older than all of the other countries and was more powerful than anyone of them combined. This creature was the ice and the snow storms that ravaged his lands in the winder. It was the one to kill his crops with the dropping temperatures. It was the one who murdered his people who were so poor that they had to live on the streets. Canada normally tried to forget this man. After all, he had only met him once or twice in his entire life. But now he was about to meet him face-to-face again, right before what he would probably now expect to be one of his harshest winters yet, all because of a text message.

This was General Winter.

Canada just hoped that he didn't have his citizen with him.

* * *

**Haha, well, it snowed over here in the state that I live in, and its a little too early in this season for snow. There are normally snowstorms from January to the middle of March where I live, but because of the lows temps and everything, forecasters are expecting a LOT of snow. And when I mean a LOT a mean a HUGE AMOUNT! (We might actually get a white Christmas this year! :D)**

**Well, so much for cutting down on school days...we might have to have school in the summer now... D:**

**Anywho, so I started to think about General Winter because of the weather outside. And then, like magic, this idea for a story came up. I shall post a chapter hopefully once a week and if there is a snowstorm and school is closed, maybe more than that. **

**Also, I'm still deciding on pairings, so if you want to see a special pairing, please tell me! **

**Anyone who reviews gets hot chocolate! :D **


	2. Sleet

**This chapter is a little shorter than the last one, but whatever, I'm happy with this one since I have everything that I wanted to put in it. The next one is going to be a little longer than normal, though, so be warned! ;D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this, I wished I owned a country though...**

* * *

When the being finally materialized, it was at least twenty below zero. By this time, even Russia was shaking. America's teeth were chattering and he had taken on a slightly blue color, which worried Canada a little. If America passed out, then he was going to have to save two people instead of one. And if Russia decided on attacking them, they wouldn't be able to retaliate. Canada needed America to stay away.

Canada also felt slightly frozen, and his teeth couldn't stop shaking. He could feel himself frosting over, his fingers going numb in turn. He felt heavy and slow as a sense of dread filled his body.

"Well, hello there Canada, I see you brought some friends," A hollow voice cut through the air like a sharp knife, "I hope you don't want to fight. That would be most...unwise of you, especially with my temper right now."

In turn, America shifted himself so that he was in between Canada and General Winter.

"I can't see your citizen. Maybe he was lying to you…?" To Canada's dread, he sounded a little hopeful at that idea. It sounded as if he was ready to get away from here.

"I don't know," Canada replied, not entirely sure why he said that. He didn't want to be here, either.

"Ah, Russia, son, what are you doing here? I'm supposed to meet up with you in a week," General Winter said, his breath sending another blast of cold air out into the alley that everyone was in.

"I could not wait to see you, so I came here," Russia told him, his voice wavering slightly.

_Is Russia…scared of this person? _Canada asked himself, disbelieving. _He's never scared of anything…_

"I have also brought you something," Russia started, taking the bag of drugs out of his coat. He tossed them to General Winter, who caught them easily with a flick of his hand and gave Russia a questioning look.

"Do you think that I am a druggie?" General Winter asked, his voice showing a trace of anger that he was attempting to hide.

"I noticed you were having headaches, so I bought these for you. I do not think you are a druggie," Russia explained, staring down at his feet and turning a pale color, "I thought maybe you could give me a nicer winter this year in return…?"

To that, General Winter laughed. Canada flinched away, hiding behind America in an attempt to stay away from that sound. It sounded like starvation and hunger and the bitter, bitter cold that froze people to death on a daily basis.

"Do you actually think that I will be nice to you because of this?" General Winter laughed, holding his sides as if his laughter was hurting himself, "I think I will make your winter this year even worse just because of that idea. Pathetic, thinking that you could win me over with a couple of drugs, especially with what is happening nowadays." He walked over to Russia in three long strides and grabbed him tightly around the neck. Within seconds, the large nation was turning blue and was struggling with trying to stay awake.

"Hey," A voice rang out. Canada flinched at the loudness of it. _Why is America talking? _Canada thought weakly, _Maybe General Winter will do all of us a favor and freeze his mouth shut…_

"Leave him alone," America continued, "It was just a mistake on his part. You don't have to kill him over it. You're not the boss of the world, you know."

General Winter turned to him, an evil glimmer in his eyes. "And who are you? I believe I recognize you from somewhere…are you the northern country I came here to see?"

America shrugged, "Maybe, everyone comes to see me, and I am a North American nation. But I don't know you, and I'm the hero so I would know everyone I saw, even if I saw the person far away at a glance…wait! You said you came here to see a northern nation, right? Do you have a person with you? Are you the citizen-napper?" America's voice sounded accusing at the end, and Canada couldn't help but grimace at America's choice of words. True, he was never good with rhetoric, but Canada hoped that one day he may use some large words once in a while.

General Winter laughed. "I know who you are now!" He exclaimed, "You are the country on the other side of the lake, right?" Once America nodded, he continued, "I have been there once, and I think that place is probably one of the worst places to go to! No one has any logic in that country of yours, and everyone is so fat and lazy! And the other countries there aren't any good, either. None of them are good in bed-"

"Wait, there are no other countries below me except for Mexico and a few central American countries. Are you calling Mexico bad in bed?" America laughed, "I'm so telling her that!"

General Winter ignored him and went on, "And you have the worst people. And the worst government. No one likes anyone down there, it's a mess. I never go down there; it is a waste of time to even walk down there!"

America frowned, letting the words sink in. He clenched his fist, and Canada moved out from behind him and in between the two. He knew that is America was going to lash out at this person, it would end badly for everyone.

"D-do you have my citizen?" Canada asked General Winter, staring at the ground and feeling as if he just signed a death warrant. He could tell that this person wanted to hurt someone. _As long as it's not one of my people, I'm fine with it. _He thought. "I-I came here because I got a text message saying someone did. I came to get them back. A-and America came here too because of that. I don't know about Russia, though. He already told you why he is here, though, so you shouldn't worry about him. Now, can you please tell us why you are here?" he didn't understand why he was being so polite, but he had this terrible feeling that if he wasn't polite, then he would end up like Russia, who was still struggling to catching his breath.

"No," General Winter told him, making Canada feel a little better about the whole situation. "I said that to get you here," he explained, making Canada's heart sink.

_This isn't going to be good, _Canada thought, wondering if it was too late to run away.

"Why do you want my brother?" America yelled, moving out from behind Canada and standing next to him, "What do you want from him?" He asked, sounding redundant.

General Winter chuckled, "You sound so dumb, but my business has nothing to do with you, so be smart for once and stay out of this." He then turned to Canada and said, "I came to give you a decent winter."

To Canada, this seemed like a strange request. He always had a good winter. After all, many of his citizen often complained about the long and harsh winter his land often brought. And he also doubted that there could be a colder winter than the winters in the places far north, like the northern parts of Nunavut.

But America found something wrong with that, and he quickly jumped out in front of Canada. He had seen something, like a twitch of General Winter's coat, or the slight glimmer of steel flying toward Canada.

And with a lurch and a strange, animal-like sound coming from America's mouth, he fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Canada stood there dumbfounded for a second, as if he didn't believe what had just happed. Then once he mentally slapped himself for being stupid, he rushed toward his fallen brother.

He heard the sounds of a fight in the background, but it didn't matter to him what was happening around him. He saw some blood pooling in the ground where America had fallen.

_America was hurt, _Canada thought, grabbing his cell phone out of his jacket and dialing 911. He needed to get him to a hospital. He flipped America over so that his wound was facing up, and then took off his red-and-white scarf and placed it on the wound, slightly remembering his first-aid training that he got before he had fought in WWII.

"_Get off me!" _Canada heard someone scream behind him. There were more sounds of fighting and then a large crash came from the far end of the alley.

Turning around, Canada saw Russia rushing for them, bleeding from the head and shoulder and bending down as if he was about to pick someone up.

Jumping out of the way just in time, Canada avoided being run over by the larger nation. "Get help!" Canada shouted after him, reaching down to put pressure on America's wound again in a futile attempt to stop the flow of blood.

But then America wasn't there where he had left him and Canada just barely glanced up to see a certain Russian turn left out of the alley.

Certain that America was with him, Canada rushed after the larger figure. "Let him go!" He shouted, determined to catch up to the nation and save his wounded brother.

* * *

His glasses had been knocked off of him when he had fallen to the ground. He didn't know whether or not that was a good thing. It was good in the aspect that he didn't see the amount of blood that he had lost or the silver and awfully cold piece of metal that was protruding from his stomach. If he had seen that, he probably would have made the whole situation worse by trying to treat it himself.

But he was as blind as a bat right now, so he couldn't see who had picked him up and was currently running with him in his arms. But he would hear the person talking. It was in a Russian accent, and for the life of him America didn't see the sense of having a Russian in Canada. They were both very cold places. It made more sense to go have a vacation in a place like Florida, where the low temperatures were in the sixties.

"Where can I go?" The voice muttered, "He needs warmth. I can't go home. At least, not now. I need a safe haven, but where?"

_A safe haven...a warm haven, _America thought sluggishly, his limbs and head going fuzzy from loss of blood. He smiled as he thought of a simple solution to the problem: _Go north. Use a train. Go to the most northern stop. Then walk the rest of the way there. It is warm at the end. I promise. _

America didn't know who promised him that, but he forced his muscles to move. "Go on a train," he rasped.

The person that was holding him stopped and held him tighter, slightly restricting his breathing. "Where did you say to go? A train, da?" The person asked.

_I know that accent...but who has it again? _America thought, frowning. He then decided to forget about it, since he probably wasn't going to figure it out anytime soon. His thought were getting slower and he quietly rasped, "Yeah, go north. On a train. Wake me up when we get there."

And with that, darkness overcame his senses and he gave one more shutter before he lost all thoughts and went unconscious.

* * *

**Ah...I really have nothing to say about this, except maybe I'm more into this fanfiction because this December is officially the third coldest winter ever in the state that I live in. And guess what: there's going to be a white Christmas! :D I'm so happy! :D **

**And...I got one of those awesome snowball-makers today (Which is made in the USA, so its awesome! XD), so tomorrow...if you're one of my neighbors...watch out...kolkolkolkolkolkolkolkolkol...XD **

**Winter is one of my favorite seasons...btw, look for one more chapter before Christmas, I'm going to be working hard this week on my writings because I have no school this week.**

**Anyway, please review and tell me whether or not you think Jack Frost is one of General Winter's underlings. It is very important that I know! **

**Cookies and a kiss from Canada if you review! :D**


	3. Hail

**Ok, so I figured out that in my last chapter, I did a terrible job with explaining everything. So hopefully this clears everything up.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own hetalia. If I did, I would have gone to another country by now...**

**And yes, I know that Canada does not have a Canadian accent. I just didn't know how to write one until now. **

* * *

"I would like two train tickets to the more northern point of this country," Russia told the person on the other side of the glass who he expected would hand him tickets. He had gotten to the closest train station as fast as he possible could, and then he had placed America on a bench a couple of feet away, where he could keep a close eye on him.

America was still bleeding even though he had tied a scarf tightly around his waist. Russia was a little concerned about that minor detail, mostly because if a citizen noticed a fainted man that was bleeding on a bench, someone would call the hospital or police and then everyone would know where he was.

"You are planning to go to Churchill, Manitoba, eh?" The person asked through the intercom. Russia really didn't like that. To his eyes, the person was less than a meter away from him; the person should be able to talk to him directly, without the stupid intercom.

"That is the most northern stop, da?" Russia asked, noticing the person's smile at the sound of his strange accent. He inwardly sighed to himself. _Every foreigner is the same; they always laugh at my accent. How come they do not see that they are the people with accents? _

"That will be fifteen dollars, eh?" The person told Russia, "Just give me the money, eh? The train will be here by ten-thirty, eh?"

Russia handed the person the money, and in turn two tickets popped out of a slot. Russia grabbed them quickly and went back to where he had put America.

The young nation was still unconscious, leaning on the wall in a manner that made him look as if he had just gotten drunk. He clothes were tattered, and which made him looked homeless.

Russia sat down next to him and frowned. The younger country was still bleeding from where he had been stabbed, even though the knife had already disappeared. That almost surprised Russia; whenever he got stabbed by General Winter, the knife disappeared about thirty minutes of being stabbed and then the blood would clot. He didn't understand why that happened, but that was what always happened when he got hurt by General Winter.

Of course, the knife didn't just disappear. He knew from experience that once you got stabbed, you were going to have a very, very rough winter, and it wouldn't let up until the start of spring. _America is going to have quite a winter. I wonder if he had been around long enough to have ever been attacked by General Winter? _Russia wondered uncertainly, _Of course, he had been around for over two centuries. Hopefully he's had something like this happen to him before. _

Russia looked over to the train station's clock. The minute hand was almost at the top of the clock, and the black hour hand was barely touching the ten. "I believe that I have enough time to get you to stop bleeding. I do not get why it had not already clotted, though. Perhaps it has something to do with your type of government? After all, the only safe form of government is communism, da?" he said half to himself, picking to unconscious nation up. He was comparably light to what Russia had originally thought the nation would be._ After all, wasn't he always eating hamburgers? _Russia thought,_ He should be very fat._

"Come on," Russia said, looking down at America, "I thought I saw a restroom over there."

And with that, he turned to the left and walked away from a crowd of people who were staring at him in disbelief.

"Mama," a young girl said, "What is with that man who was carrying the younger guy?"

"I don't know," her mom told her, "But we don't interact with those people, eh? That man looked scary...we better call the police, eh?"

* * *

Canada rushed into the meeting room, hoping to find England. _He'll know what to do, _Canada thought to himself, _After all, he's dealt with Russia before. He can save America. _

Canada didn't know what to do if he was wrong.

There were only a few other people in the room, and it looked as if the second session to the other meeting had just ended. Greece was still sleeping in a corner, and Germany was still trying to untangle himself from Italy.

"Angleterre, don't worry, I'm sure that Canada is keeping Amérique safe. you do not need to worry about them," Canada heard France tell someone. Canada turned to where the voices were coming from, and then saw the two blondes in a corner. France had him arm around England's shoulder, as if he was trying to get England to do something. He walked towards them, hoping that they knew what to do about his situation.

"I don't care about his safety," England told France, shoving France's arm off his shoulder. "I just want to find that boy so I can bloody wring his neck. He shouldn't have walked off on all of us, especially since he is hosting this meeting." England huffed, and then turned to walk away.

But then France caught sight of Canada, and then grabbed England roughly by the shoulder. "Well, if you want to know where Amérique it, then ask Canada. He is his brother, after all."

England looked at Canada, and walked over to him. "Well, do you know where America is? Because our bosses are supposed to have a meeting soon and we are supposed to be with them. I saw him walk out with you earlier. I hope you know where he is."

Canada looked around the room and noticed that all of the other countries in the room had stopped doing whatever they were doing and were looking at them. It looked as if they had been missed.

"Ah, well...I do," Canada started, feeling heat rush into his face. He always hated it when he had to talk in front of a large number of people. His hands always felt clammy and his voice always went softer, so even when he was yelling, no one would hear him.

"Good," England said, "So where is he? Did he run off?" His voice sounded accusing, as if he had known America would do that all along.

"No...not really," Canada told him, looking down and shuffling his feet. _Why am I acting like this? _Canada thought to himself, _America is in trouble and I'm acting like a complete moron. _"He did not run away!" he said strongly, attempting to become louder.

"Then where is he? Did Russia steal him? I also noticed that he was also gone, as relieving as that is, I'd hate to know that those two maniacs are off doing who-knows-what when a blizzard is coming to this area," England huffed, looking away.

"Ah, well they are-" Canada started. Then he hesitated, realizing something. "D-did you just say that a blizzard is coming our way?" He asked.

"Yes," Germany called out, "Which is why I told everyone to get out of here before all of the flights are cancelled. Somehow, a blizzard formed right above Alaska and is making its way down to the rest of America. You shouldn't worry, though. The weatherman told us it was going to miss Canada completely."

"We should go to my country to finish this meeting, then," Canada decided, thinking that once he got everyone there, he should be able to get a good-sized search party to go and look for America. And if Russia was holding America hostage, the search party would probably be large enough to take down Russia.

"Are you sure, I mean, we could just go home and vacation there. You could come to my house!" Italy cheered, "We could have a party!"

"Italy!" Germany interrupted, "That is a terrible idea!"

"Don't worry, you can come too!" Italy cheered, "And I can make pasta, and we can watch movies all night long! How does that sound?"

"No thanks," Canada told Italy, "I agree with Germany. How about we go to my capital, or maybe right above Lake Erie? I heard it was pretty this time of year, and we wouldn't have to travel far to each there. How about it, eh?" He desperately hoped that they would agree to it.

"Sure," England agreed, "Besides, I heard it was going to snow in England, too."

"That idea sounds fine. My boss is expecting me back in two days. I cannot be home early," Germany told Canada, "When shall we go?"

"Now," Canada decided, "We need to leave now. It would be bad if we waited until the blizzard came. And England, we need to help America."

"Where is he?" England asked, "I swear, if he's stuck at Hooters again, I'll kill that boy-"

"No, he's not at Hooters. When has he ever been to Hooters?" Canada asked, and then judging by the looks of both France and England, he decided to not ask about it. Instead, he cleared his throat and said, "I think Russia got America. America was stabbed by a man...and now it's going to blizzard..and...and..." Canada's voice failed him and it started coming out as a whisper.

"What happened?" England asked, "Where is America?"

Canada only shook his head and lifted up a hand. There was a collective gasp in the room, every country shocked beyond belief.

In Canada's hands were America's beloved glasses, or Texas, as he fondly called them. He had gotten them right after the Spanish-American war and he had told everyone that he had gotten them because after the Alamo, his eyesight had gotten terrible. They were once great, handsome-looking glasses, and they usually brought off an aura of their own, as if stating that they, too, could be a country.

But now they were shattered, both lens smashed inward so that only a few bits of glass still hung on to the lens. The piece of the glasses that normally rested on the nose was broken in two, as if someone had snapped them with a pair of very strong scissors.

"I have this terrible feeling," Canada said, breaking the silence, "That America is in a lot of danger."

* * *

Russia towed America into a section of the train that didn't have anyone else in it. He walked a little bit and then dumped his load on a bench about halfway through the hallway. It landed with a soft _oof, _and Russia looked over at it expectantly. He had hoped that the younger country would wake up before the train started rolling, but so far America had done nothing to show that he was awake.

He had, thankfully, been able to stop the bleeding in the bathroom, and now that they were on the train, he had thought that the young nation would wake up.

He sighed, sitting down next to the fainted nation, wondering a little worryingly that America had been stabbed in a place that needed medical attention.

But then he shrugged it off, deciding that even if he wanted to go to a hospital, then he would have to wait a bit. At least, until the winter was over.

Russia shifted America so that it looked like he was sleeping peacefully on the bench instead of fighting for consciousness.

He touched America's forehead and frowned. It already felt freezing cold. When he was attacked by General Winter, it usually took over a day for him to feel the effects. He would normally feel sick, and then feel cold. He had been expecting the same from this superpower that he had rescued. _America must be different from me. After all, he is on a different continent than I am. _Russia decided, _that must make everything different for him. _

The doors opened, and Russia looked over at them, ready to get rid of whoever was going to try to impede on his conversations with him and America.

Russia sat back down as he noticed that it was the conductor. The conductor walked over to them and reached out his hand. In turn, Russia placed the two tickets in his hands, and the conductor nodded. He punched a hole in each of them, and then handed the tickets back to Russia.

"Is your friend fine?" The conductor asked, looking concerned.

"Da, he is. He is just tired from staying up all night. He was...seeing a girl," Russia said slowly, hoping that the Conductor wouldn't see the blood smeared on America's shirt. He had tried to wash out the stain, but it wouldn't go out, even when he ran it underneath warm water.

"Well, if either of you need any help, come to the front. There are not that many people on this train, and this is going to be a long train ride," the conductor said, "We should be moving shortly, eh?"

Russia didn't say anything, and the conductor left. Soon, the train started to move and the outside quickly turned into blurs of light.

"See that, America?" Russia asked hopefully, "We are moving. It makes you want to move too, da?"

And slowly, America stirred.

* * *

**Hahaha, cliffhanger! I love it when I do that! **

**And yes, Russia is the hero. Laugh all you want, I did it because I think Russia is a cool country (pun intended). How could you have General Winter without Russia? And Russia is my favorite character besides America...**

**So, I shall update before Christmas, but I have alittle bit of an issue. I know what I'm going to give America, but I don't know what to give Russia. Does vodka sound OK? ;)**

**Please review! It gives me energy to write more!**


	4. Ice

**Disclaimer: I do not own heetalia. If I did, America would be bipolar to show Democrates and Republicans! And I shall write a fanfic about that sooner or later! :D**

* * *

It took them about an hour to get to Canada in the blizzard, but even though everyone in the search party was tired and cold, they went to the spot that Canada had last scene America.

"He was standing…right about here…when he was hit…" Canada told them; pointing to the spot he was talking about, "And then…when he was hit…he fell right there…where the…" He swallowed hoarsely, noticing that there was still a small puddle from where his brother had fallen.

England kneeled down to the blood, staring at it with a tortured, disbelieving gaze, as if he couldn't even comprehend what was being told to him. "Please be louder, Canada," he said quietly, closing his eyes, "I cannot hear you above the wind."

Canada nodded, again reminded of the cold. The wind was coming in from the south and- as strange as it sounded- it was cooling off whatever warmth had returned to the alley. Usually when there was wind coming up from America, which was a strange occurrence in itself, the temperatures usually got warmer, not colder. Some thing was really wrong with America, and he needed help. It hurt Canada on the inside to know that and not be able to help. _I need to talk louder, _Canada reminded himself. "Um-"he started.

"You know exactly what he said, Angleterre. You just do not want to admit it to yourself. Amérique got stabbed, he is missing, and now the weather in his land had turned awfully cold in Amérique. And to make matters worse, Canada says Russia had run off with him," France snapped, "Amérique needs help."

"Vee~ this is terrible news!" Italy gasped, "And a couple of days before Christmas, too!"

"We should go and find America," Germany said sternly, even though everyone had already figured that out. "Canada, do you have a map of this place? We can section this town into squares and get a small search group into each of them, so we can search this town faster. And if we find Russia somewhere in this town, there should be enough people in each group to get America to safety without getting themselves hurt."

Canada felt a rush of gratitude for this nation. _You see, _he thought to himself, _some people here know what they are doing. _

"T-there should be some maps at the train station," Canada told them, "We can get everything settled there, and then we can go and look for America. Follow me- the train station is close to where we are now."

And without another word, Canada quickly marched off, and was quickly followed up by Italy, Germany, England, France, and Japan.

* * *

"You are cold, da?" Russia asked the groggy nation. They had sat there for a while, mainly because Russia wanted to make sure America wouldn't fall asleep on him again, or that America wasn't going to try to escape and reopen his wound.

"V-v-v-v-v-v," America shattered helplessly, unsure about how to stop his jaw from shaking. "Yes!" He shouted finally after a second or two. He huddled closer to the window, hoping that somehow he would get warmer.

Russia wondered what he should say about that. He was starting to get cold, too. General Winter was finally coming onto his Russian soil. Because of what he had done to General Winter in the alley, he was expecting for a cold winter.

"W-w-w-what happened?" America shakily said. He looked confused and lost, especially since he had lost his glasses long time ago. Russia guessed that he had knocked them off of him when he picked him up from the ground.

"What do you remember?" Russia asked, deciding that America was looking slightly bluish without his glasses. He frowned, noticing that he could now see America's breath. _Something is wrong, da, _He thought, throwing his coat off his shoulders and placing it on America.

The younger nation didn't seem to notice this happening. Instead, he just curled up closer to the window.

"I-I-I-I-I," America swallowed hard in an attempt to get his voice under control, "I was g-g-g-going with C-c-c-Canada to meet someone who w-w-was bugging him." He rasped. The next thing he said made Russia want to punch something. "W-w-w-why do I hurt s-s-so bad?"

To Russia, it sounded as if America was crying.

"Do you remember a man at the place you were at?" Russia asked, hoping that America remembered at least that part.

"Y-y-y-yeah," America rasped, "H-h-he looked like y-y-you, except h-h-he had a b-beard."

Russia nodded, almost sighing with relief but catching himself at the last minute. Right now, America needed him. If he couldn't help this nation, then no one could. "You met General Winter. He is the person who gives me such a terrible time in the winter. You have never met him before, da? Anyway, he was there to get your brother to have a bad winter, too. He had been getting it easy, da? That is normally the reason General Winter stabs people-"

"D-d-d-did he stab h-h-him?" America interrupted, "I-i-i-if he did, th-then I'm gonna kill 'em!"

"Nyet," Russia told him, noticing that America sounded a little bit stronger when he was talking about revenge. "You moved in front of him. He is safe as far as I know."

"T-t-then why a-are you here?" America asked, "I-i-if it is not a f-f-funeral, t-t-then you shouldn't b-b-be in Canada." He closed his eyes for a minute, and Russia wondered if he was trying to go back to sleep again. If so, then Russia was going to have to keep him awake to tell him what had happened. It wouldn't do anyone any good if America forgot this whole conversation.

"I am here because I wanted to give General Winter those medicines that you saw me buy in the store. You remember that, da?" Russia asked, a little worried that this air-headed country might have already forgotten about it.

"Y-y-y-yeah, I remember it," America told him, "You g-g-g-got those good meds f-f-for political i-i-i-issues."

Russia let out a dry chuckle, "It sound like you need some of that yourself."

"D-d-d-do you have any?" America asked, sounding slightly hopeful. Russia felt another pang of guilt. Right now, he sorely wished that he did have the drugs; it looked like America sorely needed them.

"No," Russia told him sadly, and when he saw America's face fall he swallowed harshly. He usually ignored that terribly sad look when it came across that face- and he had only seen it once or twice in his whole lifetime, only when something really bad was happening. But now, he couldn't avoid the look. "But I can probably find some of them on the next stop this train makes," he added apologetically.

"Y-y-y-you can't find a-a-any of those meds in C-c-c-Canada. Its i-i-illegal h-h-here," America cut in, sounding slightly aggravated.

_He sounds as if he knows about this stuff. How many times has he used this medication? _Russia wondered worriedly. "I will try to find a substitute. That will be fine, da?" Russia asked, not actually caring whether or not he agreed to it. He would find something anyway, if he remembered.

"F-f-f-fine," America rasped, "Wh-why are we on a train, anyway?" He attempted to shrug, but it just added to his shivering.

"You told me to," Russia told him, feeling slightly annoyed by that idea. He had _listened _to America and had _followed his orders. _Something must have been wrong with him at that moment. But then, America had been dying at that moment, although he wasn't entirely sure how that fit into this. There must have been something wrong with him when he was running. For him to actually care about America…well, it was strange to think about.

When all he got from that was a blank stare, he continued, "When we were in that alley, General Winter tried to stab your brother. Then you came in to save him or something- I do not know what happened between you three, I am only guessing- but you got stabbed and then you fell on the ground. Then I attacked General Winter…"

For a second, that thought stopped him. He had actually attacked General Winter willingly, and had ended throwing him in a dumpster in the alleyway and had made a dash for it. But still, he fought General Winter for someone else's sake and winning…it was unthinkable for him.

"And then I picked you up from the alleyway and then got you to this train station. I got the wound to clot, and then we got here. And now you are awake and feeling better, da?" Russia asked, hoping that he was correct.

"N-n-n-not really," America muttered, "I-I-I-I feel like crap."

"You look like crap," Russia told him, "But that will change in the spring, when everything melts and spring takes over."

"W-w-w-what?" America cried out, sounding hopeless and making Russia wonder about the younger nation's sanity. Sure, he could act insane, but it was terrible for other countries to be unreasonable. One insane country was enough for the world. "I-I-I-I have enough p-p-p-problems with winter already! I can't have a-a-a-a winter like this! Sure, you have it e-e-e-every year, but I-I-I-I'm more southern than you! M-m-m-my people are not used to this!" He shuttered and sobbed, "I feel them dying already…"

"Who?" Russia asked, frowning. He had not thought that this would affect America _this _much.

"T-t-the people in the p-p-p-poorhouses…the people who are h-h-h-homeless and on the s-s-s-streets…the people that I am t-t-t-trying to help," he said weakly.

"Da, those people will die," Russia told him, deciding that it would be best not to lie, "But you will live at the end, da? That is the only important part."

"I-I-I-I guess I-I will live," America said tiredly, closing his eyes again, too tired from the cold to keep them open. After a while, America's breaths became deep and rhythmic, and Russia had decided that America had fallen back asleep.

Russia got up from where he had been sitting and shifted his coat on America so that he was warm while Russia was away. Russia needed to know when and where the train would stop next. He needed to get the pills for America. It looked like he needed them badly.

"You will live," Russia told the sleeping nation, not caring if he heard him, "I am here to help." He was not sure how much he could help, since when he had been stabbed by General Winter, he was usually either knocked out or too depressed to care about whom was taking care of him.

"You will live…" A voice whispered outside the train.

* * *

"Here is the map," Canada told the group of people.

They were at the nearest train station, and now everyone was crowding around the small table that the map was sitting on.

Quickly, Germany brought out a black marker, in which no one knew where he got it from, and slit the map up into many tiny squares.

"All right," he told everyone, "I sectioned everything out into one-mile squares. This town is divided into sixteen squares, so I suggest that we get eight people and search in groups of two, so the groups will only have to search four square miles of land. Does that sound good for everyone?"

"Wait, I have a problem," England told him, "There are only six of us; we need two more people for this to work."

"I am supposed to have a meeting with China and Taiwan about foreign affairs in a while; I guess I can convince the two to help us. I mean, America is China's number one trading partner. He should be worried if America disappears," Japan suggested, "China can go with Canada, and I can work with Taiwan."

"That sounds fine," Germany agreed, "And I will work with Italy. France and England, you two can work together, too."

"Wait a second; I do not want to work with that perverted git!" England argued.

"Too bad," Germany told them, "We already have our other groups formed, and you two are the only ones left."

Them, as if on cue, the other countries grabbed maps and bolted out the door, not wanting to get hit by England's wrath.

The search for America had begun.

* * *

**OK, so I'm thinking about adding some Japan/Taiwan, but I am not sure how to pull it off and whether or not people like that pairing. **

**Also, Canada/Ukraine will start in the next chapter, so hopefully everyone is looking forward to that... **

**Should I have some France/UK? I sorta set that up, didn't I? But I'm still not sure about it, so you people are going to decide for me!**

**And if you guys are wondering about the voice, don't worry, it will all be explained by the end of this fanfic!**

**Reviews earn you love!**


	5. Snow

**Hey, sorry for the late update! I was studying for midterms and writing more of my origional story that I am hoping to publish. Either i publish that thing, or I get a summer job, and I really do not want a summer job quite yet in my life. Maybe next year, but not this year!**

**Disclaimer: If I really owned hetalia, would I need a summer job? **

**PS: If my OC character annoys anyone with his views in this chapter, please do not worry! Those are his opinions only, and he will not be in any other chapters! I just needed him for this chapter only!**

* * *

"So all we have to do is find a Russian and a wounded American?" China asked, looking slightly appalled by this story, "That sounds easy enough."

"It does," Taiwan agreed, sounding determined. Her face was frowning, and she looked very confused. "Why would Russia do that? The Cold War is over…" She trailed off, uncertain to say anything else.

Japan frowned in turn. He had also been thinking about that. The Cold War was over a decade ago, and America had told him earlier that their bosses had been trying to help them 'improve relations' and they were becoming friends.

"I thought of that, too," Japan told them, airing his doubts, "Their bosses had been getting them together, and America had told me that their relationship was getting better."

"Perhaps they were not in as good a relationship as we thought, aru?" China said, grimacing, "They had just fought a fifty-year war against each other. I hope America is still alive. He still has a debt to pay off."

"Is that all you worry about?" Taiwan asked, glaring at China. If looks could kill, he would have been dead at the moment.

"No, aru, I worry about other things, too, like my people," China explained to her, "I just want my money back."

"So, will you two help us?" Japan asked them.

"We both will," China told him earnestly, glancing over at Taiwan. "I will search with her. Where will we search, again?"

Japan frowned; he had really wanted to go searching with Taiwan. It had been a while since he had talked to her one-on-one, and he really missed their conversation. She was pretty, smart, brave, and a nice girl…well, most of the time. Now she seemed a little peeved about everything, no that China has her.

If anything, he was hoping to give her a break from the new superpower. It looked as if she really needed it.

"Are you sure about that?" Japan asked, "It seemed as if Canada wanted to talk to you. You two can talk while you search."

"Who wants to talk to me?" China asked, looking confused, "I have never met a Canada. Is he a new country or something? Either way, I can talk to him later; I need to watch Taiwan."

Japan sighed, frowning. He had really wanted to talk to Taiwan, but it looked as if he would wait. After all, China was now the newest powerhouse, and they were neighbors. It would be very unwise to annoy him.

* * *

The train stopped slowly, as if inertia wanted to keep it going and the breaks were not working. Because of that, the train stopped about fifty feet away from where the train station was.

That did not worry Russia much, since he found a drugstore quiet easily in the small town that they stopped at.

He walked into the drug store, and after glancing around, walked to the far wall, where it looked like the heavy drugs were.

"What is the problem?" someone called out from the counter. "Those drugs are only for emergencies, and you do not look like a doctor."

Russia looked up from a bottle that looked like the one that he had gotten before; the medicine that America had told him was the best.

The person came up to his shoulder, which was quite tall for a normal person. He wore a formal business suit and was holding a black briefcase in his right hand. He had black hair and wore matching black glasses over his brown eyes. He held a few papers in his left hand. If anything, this man looked as if he was part of the government.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," Russia told the man defensively, his violet eyes glimmering dangerously in the light. He did not like the look in this man's eyes. This man looked as if he was scrutinizing Russia and cross-reading everything he said. If he had blonde hair and blue eyes, he would have seemed like America during the Cold War.

"You are a doctor, da?" Russia asked pleasantly, "Because if you are not, then you should not tell me what to do with these medications."

The man smiled sheepishly. "Right now, I wish I was," he told him, "But right now, I am an American businessman who can't get home to make sure his family is safe."

"I am sure someone can smuggle you over, da? After all, many people cross America's borders illegally," Russia assured this man, feeling slightly sad that he was saying that. He had seen America tell off Mexico many times when it came to illegals crossing his border, and nothing had changed since then. It worried him a bit, but that was not his problem to worry about.

To that, the man let out a bitter, barking laugh. "Of course, of course," he said, "That would work on any normal day, but not now. Everything is shut down in America. No one had been expecting this bad of a winter. Every state- including Hawaii, believe it or not- is under a downpour of snow. No one can do anything; everything is at a standstill. I feel bad for my friends and family, but I cannot do anything to help them." The man slumped, looking down at the papers in his hands glumly, "All I can do now is bury myself in my work for the time being, and hope this all blows over soon."

"Is it really that bad?" Russia asked, worried. He had left America on the train since he had not yet woken up and had seemed a little warm to the touch.

"Sadly, it is," the man told him, "I hope that something good comes out of this at least. And hopefully our government can do something about it. If they can't help us now; it's going to be the end of them."

"What do you mean by that?" Russia asked, "I heard that everything is getting better in America. That is true, da?"

The man shrugged helplessly. "To some people, yes, and to others, painfully no," he told Russia, "those who can afford nothing can get everything, and the people who are living all right are being very hurt because they have to pay all of the poor people's bills. I do not think that this is a good system, and a lot of people agree with me. But…" he stopped for a second, trying to find the right words, "We cannot do anything about it. Do you understand?"

"Nyet," Russia answered, frowning. This did not seem like anything that America would endorse. He had always talked about individualism and getting what you deserved. Even when he had gotten that large debt to China he had been that way. True, he was still paying it off, but he at least upheld it.

The man shook his head. "It is hard to understand the situations that we are in if you are a foreigner," he started, "So you should probably just read the newspapers. Of course, there are none being printed right now, but once everything gets back to normal, you should check it out."

He started to walk away from Russia, and Russia let him leave. He could always get America to tell him what was so wrong when he got back to the train. All he would have to do is go back to the train and wake him up. He would have to wake America up anyway to give him the painkillers.

_Da, this will do, _Russia though, grabbing another bottle of the painkillers. He hoped that they would help America.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was helping America. Maybe it was the fact that America had been stabbed by his own enemy that made him so helpful. After all, an enemy of your enemy is your friend. And besides, ever since their war had ended about a decade ago, he had wanted to become friends with America again. He wasn't sure why, but he felt bound to him. And he also felt something from him that he had never felt anywhere else. It was a strange feeling, but he always felt as if he wanted to get closer and closer to his former rival.

It was a strange feeling to have, but he knew that he would never be able to get closer to America if he let his former foe die.

* * *

"Aww, but Angleterre, I thought you enjoyed my company," France said, wrapping his arms around England in an attempt to get closer to him.

"Get away from me!" England roared, shoving France away from his body. "We are supposed to be looking for America and Russia; not humping each other!"

"So you were thinking about it?" France told him, smiling mischievously. He again started to wrap his hand around England.

"S-stop it!" England said, again pulling himself free of France, "I do not understand why I had to be with you."

"Because, you like me," France told him, edging closer to England.

He was only answered by huff and yet another push away from the annoyed nation.

* * *

"Vee~ Germany!" Italy called, "Will we be able to make pasta soon?"

Germany looked over at Italy, frowning. As always, he looked tired, and this situation did not help him at all. Sure, he was no longer allies with either America or Russia, but if even one superpower disappeared, then there would be a mad rush of land, and because of that, then everyone will probably get into another war. _They should take better care of themselves, _Germany though, huffing.

"Do you really want to make pasta at a time like this?" Germany asked, sounding aggravated.

"Of course!" Italy cried, "Every moment is a moment that you should make pasta with!"

With statements like that, Germany sometimes wondered how Italy stayed so skinny.

"We cannot at the moment," Germany told him, "we need to find America and Russia. America is in danger, and Russia…well, it is never good when Russia disappears. He always reappears in the exact opposite place that you want him to be."

"Aww!" Italy groaned sadly, "But I am hungry!"

At times like this, even though he really loved Italy, the country aggravated him.

"You know, when we find America, how about you cook for him?" Germany suggested, "I am sure that he would enjoy it." _No, I actually think that he will want a hamburger, but if I tell Italy this, he will probably focus and stop it with the pasta talk. _Germany thought.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Italy shouted, grabbing Germany's hand. He lapsed into silence for a while, deep in thought. Germany smiled, knowing that he could actually focus now.

But the silence didn't last for a long time. "Germany?" Italy asked.

Inwardly sighing, Germany looked over to Italy. "Yes?" he asked.

"What type of pasta will America like?"

* * *

Russia walked back to the train just as it started to move again. Now there was almost no one on the train, and he knew that the train was now heading towards the icy north, where America had told him to go.

He still did not understand why he was going north, to where there would be almost no warmth, when instead he should have been going south, where he had at least a chance of keeping America warm.

But then again, America did not question Russia when he told him where they were going, so maybe America did have a plan for everything. At least, that was Russia's hope. If not, then they were going towards another dead end. And maybe this time this mishap would be lethal.

"America?" Russia called cheerfully, walking into the train booth that he had left America.

He hadn't moved since Russia had left him. Russia's coat was still wrapped around him tightly like a blanket, and he was still huddled next to the window.

"America, wake up. I brought you something you will like," Russia cooed, touching America's shoulder lightly in a slight attempt to get him to wake up.

He flinched, jerking his hand away from the younger nation. He was freezing, as if he was an ice cube.

"America! Wake up!" Russia shouted at him, pulling the nation closer to him. He took another closer look at the young nation.

His lips were blue, but everywhere else he was awfully pale. He was shaking, and his breaths were shallow. Taking his pulse, Russia noticed that it was weak and slow.

Bundling the unconscious nation onto his lap and wrapping his arms around him as if he was a small child, Russia tried to rub some warmth back into the young superpower. Leaving him was a stupid idea.

"America, wake up!" Russia shouted, hoping that somehow he would react to his voice. He didn't.

* * *

**...and so I end this chapter with a cliffie! Ah, I'm sorry, I would write more, but I have to go to bed now, because I have a new class tomorrow morning, and I do not want to make a bad impression with the teacher! (And that was totally not a run-on sentence). **

**Please review! if you do, then I will not kill America in the chapters ahead! (And that was not a threat at all...) So review! I shall answer back to any questions that you might have! Even the wierd ones! :D **

**No...I'm serious...review and I might give you awesome candy... :D**


	6. Snow Day Number One! :D

**Disclaimer: I know nothing but this plot. I am not Japanese, nor am I considering becoming Japanese. **_

* * *

___

There was light everywhere. Although, it was not welcoming, like what America had thought it would be. It was dark and foreboding and he wanted to be anywhere else but her. This place was cold, and he couldn't see anything, even his hand. He could only feel numbness and see white. It was a blinding…dangerous white, in which threatened to swallow him whole.

"_Hey!" America shouted, "Is anyone here? Can anyone hear me?" _

_After a second of listening, he could hear nothing. There was no wind or any shouts of any kind. _

_He wrapped his arms around himself, hoping that would help him stay warm. He doubted that he could even get warm in this place, though. The place seemed endless._

Well, one thing is for sure, _America thought grimly, _I'm gonna die here if I don't do anything. I can't just give up now!

"_So, where will I go?" he muttered to himself, partially because he hated the fact that he was alone and that he wanted to feel as if someone was with him. Even though he barely had any allies even back home, it was nice to think that he might have one friend by him. It was what kept him going. _

_There was no ideal direction, because the harshly falling snow blocked out everything in view. He couldn't discern any difference from one direction to the next, and eventually he gave up on attempting finding the right path. _

"_Well, this is as good as anything," America muttered, turning once more to another wall of white and taking a step in that direction. "Hopefully I'll find something soon. I'm feeling a little cold…"_

* * *

"America, wake up!" Russia shouted again, wrapping his arms around the freezing nation and rubbing his back. He was trying to get some warmth in him, but it seemed to have no effect on him.

_I need to find someplace warm, da, _Russia thought worriedly, _or else America will probably freeze. I do not want General Winter to win this round. _

He bundled America in his arms, pressing him close to him chest. If there was any heat in Russia, it would be in his chest. Moscow was warm once in a while, right?

Making sure that he wasn't squeezing America so much that he was suffocating him, Russia got off the bench he was on and ran out of the train booth.

Freezing winds hit him sharply as he ran out of the booth, the door behind him slamming shut because of the wind. He brought his arms up to shield America from the bitter wind and continued onward. He needed to keep America from getting even colder.

He then forced the next set of doors open with his shoulders, and with a crash, he entered the next train booth.

There were two terrified teenagers in the caboose, one girl and one boy. The girl had blue eyes and blonde hair and looked a little French, while the boy looked oddly Spanish.

"What are you doing with that man?" The girl shrieked, placing her hand on her mouth, "Have you killed him?"

"No, he is going in kill him in the boiler room, eh?" The boy countered, enjoying the look of horror on the girls face.

"Nyet, none of that," Russia explained to them, running pat them, "I am just taking him to the engine room-"

"Where he will throw him into the engine!" The boy interrupted, yelling loudly. He glanced over at the girl sitting right next to him. She was shrinking away from Russia in fear now, obviously believing what the boy was saying.

By this time, Russia was past the two people, and he didn't feel the need to explain why he was here. If this girl wanted to believe that he was going to kill America, which wasn't true, then he would let her believe the boy. He had more important things to worry about.

He rushed out of the booth, hearing the young boy shout something else about him going to kill America. _Well, if she really wants to believe him, then she can. I have no problem with that. _

Bitter winds once again hit Russia as he ran out of the booth, and again he shoved the door open with his shoulder.

_How many train booths are left before I get to the engine room? _Russia thought worriedly, running through the caboose. Thankfully, there was no one in this train car. _I doubt America will live much longer if I don't find warmth soon. _

_The white-out wasn't letting up. No matter how far America walked, he felt nothing rub up against him. He couldn't find any walls that would lead to any barns to shelter in or any rails that would help him find a direction to walk in. If he could run into anything in this weather, he was pretty sure that he could find shelter. And he needed shelter right now. He felt so, so cold, and snow was building up on top of him. _

_He was feeling tired, and he felt as if he wanted to fall asleep. It would be nice to just fall asleep and wake up to see that everything was a nightmare. In fact, he would love to be able to know that all of this was a dream. He couldn't remember how he got here, and he had no idea on which way to go. _

_He would love to just wake up and for all of this to be over. It would be a miracle to think that he had never been stabbed- which still hurt quite a bit- and that he hadn't lost his glasses. He wished that if this was a dream that he would wake up soon. If that happened, he would go and hug his brother so hard that he would be gasping for breath when America let him go, and then he would go and call England to tell him that he was the best father he could ever have had, even though he was always gone and taxed him too much. He would then listen to England curse at him for something, and this time he wouldn't be so depressed about it, because he would be warm, and there would be no terrible winter in his country. _

_America would then eat tons of searing soup and hot coca, and then he would go and jump into his bosses' hot tub. That would all be amazing to do. He hoped he would wake up soon. _

_But for right now, he wasn't going to fall asleep, because he felt as if something bad would happen to him if he did. And he kept hearing some voice in the wind screaming something about waking up. He didn't know about how to wake up, since he was obviously awake as it is, but he knew that falling asleep would be the opposite thing to do. He enjoyed breaking rules and going against people's orders, but when the person's orders made sense, he followed them. _

_So now he was just walking in one direction, feeling heavy and cold because of the pouring snow. He didn't know which way to go, but he hoped that somehow he would hit something soon. He didn't know if he could hold up for long, but he could try. _

I'll be like that hero I read in a comic once, _America thought, attempting to motivate him to walk a little more. _She used math to walk in that blizzard and find her way home. I'll do the same thing…what is fifteen squared again? I'll start with that…

_So then he started to count in fifteens, attempting to forget about the snow and the tiredness that he was feeling. _

* * *

Russia knew that he found the engine room when he felt the heat emanating from a set of doors that he was about to slam through. He smiled, knowing that he had made it, and America was still alive.

"Wait a second America. Hold on for a moment, because in a few seconds you will be safe, da?" Russia told his unconscious friend, making sure the he was still breathing. A little cloud came from America's mouth, and Russia nodded.

He took a step back from the doors and then ran at them, crashing through the two doors on contact. There was an immediate rush of hot air, and Russia sighed in relief.

"What are you doing, eh?" An angry voice shouted at him, "Crashing through here like a madman! You might have made the fire go out!"

With the sweltering heat coming from the fire, Russia was quite sure that the fire would not go out just because of a sudden rush of cold air. As if in cue, the doors slammed shut behind him.

"What is wrong with that man?" The conductor asked, looking a little more closely at the strangers that had walked into the engine room.

The conductor was a short and stubby man who had a bunch of smear marks from shoveling coal into the engine. He wore goggles and leather gloves to keep the smoke that was coming from the fire into his eyes or burn his hands.

"He needs help," Russia started.

"Of course I see that!" The man snapped, "I'm not blind, eh? Now, put him down so I can see him."

Feeling a little angry at this man, he put America carefully on the floor. Even though he didn't like the look of this man, he seemed as if he knew what he was doing.

"Hypothermia," the conductor said, taking his pulse to make sure that he was still breathing, "His pulse is slow, and his breathing is shallow. His stomach is bound, too. How did he get this way?"

"It's a long story," Russia told him, sitting down next to the unconscious nation. _It's a story that I wished never happened. _

"We have time. You are going to the most northern point that trains can go, right?" the conductor asked. When he noticed the look of puzzlement in Russia's eyes, he continued. "I see this man with his brother often, especially when they go on this type of trip. Neither of them remembers why they go up here, but they always think that it is important to come up here. I think it's foolish to come up here, but they come here anyway, especially when something bad happens. In fact, right after 9/11, I think they came up here at least five times."

"That is strange," Russia muttered, looking again at the cold nation. He looked content now that he was getting warmer, and he could almost swear that America was again smiling his trademark smile in his sleep.

"There is always a lot of time to talk on this trip, and this is no exception. To tell me what has happened to this man, eh?" The conductor finished, staring at Russia coldly. It was obvious that he thought Russia was the reason America was this way.

Sighing, Russia started on his story, not minding the conductor's cold stares. He was used to people looking at him that way, and this guy was no exception. And if Russia got too annoyed with this man, he could always chuck him off the train. "At first, I had nothing to do with any of this. I was just buying medicine for one of my…enemy…"

* * *

Taiwan grumbled as she got out of the warm shower and entered the cold air. She had been walking around Canada's city all day and had been hounded by China every moment of that terrible adventure. They had not found hide or hair of either Russia or America, and when they had come back to the train station, they learned that everyone else had the same misadventure.

Canada looked as if he was about to vomit because he was so worried about America, and England looked about the same thing, except he also looked as if he was about to murder France.

China had told everyone that if they could not find America tomorrow, then he would call the young nation as dead, and Taiwan had been forced to agree with him. She didn't want to think about it, but if America really was missing with Russia for over a couple days, then his chances of survival were very slim.

She wrapped her towel around her body and walked to the door. She had forgotten about bring clothes into the bathroom with her, and the last thing she wanted to do was wear her filthy clothes again. During her walk with China, she had ended up slipping and falling to a bunch of brown snow. Since the snow had melted by now, she could see that the snow was brown because of some doggy poop.

"I'm going to kill France if he tried to grope me like this," Taiwan muttered underneath her breath, grabbing her wooden brush as a makeshift weapon.

She walked hesitantly out of the room and into the living room of everyone's apartments. Once Canada had contacted his boss and had told him of the mess that he was in, Canada's boss had rented out a whole hotel for all of the countries.

Canada was on the couch, burying his face in his hands and curled up into a ball. The large, flat screen TV was on, but it looked as if he wasn't listening to it. Ukraine was right next to him, wrapping her arms around him and telling him that everything was going to be all right.

Taiwan also noticed that Japan was in a corner of the room, looking with glassy eyes at the TV. She blushed when she saw him. Even though it had been forever since they had talked alone, she liked him. Once in a while, she even dreamed of being with him again. He built her up and helped her, but then China got her. China was annoying to him, and she could agree with him. China was keeping them apart, she was sure of it.

She was about to go and talk to him, but then remembered that she was only in a towel. It would be awkward if she talked to him like that.

Taiwan almost left the room, but then she noticed what was on the TV screen.

"Y-you see, there was this Russian man- I could tell that he was Russian because of his accent- and he was holding this unconscious American man in his arms. He told up that he was not thinking about killing the man, but the man already looked dead…I-I'm scared," a blonde-haired girl told the reporter.

The room went silent, and the four nation's eyes glued to the screen.

"And where did you see this man?" the reporter asked, holding his microphone out so the girl could talk into it.

"O-on a train heading way up north. I didn't stay on the train because I was scared of the man, b-but I am sure that they are going up north. Russian people like going north, eh?" The girl said into the microphone.

For a moment, all of the nations locked eyes. No words needed to be said, because they all knew what was about to happen. They all knew who those two people the girl described were.

"I think I know where they are going," Canada muttered, "And I know a way to beat them there. Are you all ready to leave now? We only need a few people to take Russia down."

"If we need to take Russia down," Ukraine told him, "Maybe my younger brother is trying to help America."

"Let me put on some clothes first," Taiwan told them, feeling heat rise into her face as the boys noticed that Taiwan was only in a towel. Japan looked away in an attempt to give her some sense of privacy, and Canada turned back to Ukraine.

"All right, so we know where to go now, and the only countries we need are here," Japan told them, keeping his eyes glues tot eh screen, "So once Taiwan gets clothes on, let's go and save America."

* * *

**And that is the longest chapter that I have ever written! Now aren't you proud of me? :D Today I had a snow day since an ice storm ame through and the roads are all covered in ice. So I got to sleep in for once and write this. **

**I am also sorry if I offend anyone with the "eh's" in my story. It's just...in band, we were talking about accents, and when someone said "Canadian accent," there was a chorus of "eh's", and i just had to put that into my story. We love Canadians in my part of America, especially their accents... :)**

**Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year, so I might post something for that. I've already got a great idea for this, too, so I'm probably going to make one. China is one of my least favorite characters in Hetalia, but this idea might be too good to pass up...so if you see that I posted something with China and America in it tomorrow or soemtime this week, get ready for some laughs! :D **

**So, did you like it? Hate it? Please tell me. If I get enough reviews, then maybe I'll stop threatening America in every other chapter... ;)**


	7. Wakey, wakey

**Sorry for the long wait, but I just got a lot of homework, and now (thanks to some dedicated reviewers) I am not continuing another fanfiction that I discontinued. So I've now got three fanfictions to worry about. There goes my idea of actually starting an origional novel this month. ): My goal is to finish this fanfiction before spring is over, so I'm going to be putting an emphasis on this fanfiction at the moment. Hopefully this winter will be over very soon! ;D**

**Also, this is more of a filler chapter than anything, but I liked this, so I decided to put it up. It actually is pretty important...**

**Disclaimer: If I owned hetalia, than I would live in Japan, not America. **

_

* * *

_

_The snow had stopped falling, but there was still a layer of snow and ice on the ground. It cracked and fell through often, and America had to walk painfully slowly to make sure that he didn't fall through the thin sheets of ice. He wasn't sure what was down there, but he did not want to learn. _

"_I wonder what this place is," he muttered to himself, glancing around at the area that he was at. There were evergreen trees scattered in the distance, and there was the sound of a large river flowing in the distance. _

_Seeing the potential shelter that the trees would give him, America started to walk towards the trees. He had been trapped in the middle of a blizzard once, and he didn't want to be stuck out in the cold again. If he had enough time before another snowstorm came, then he could fashion a nice tree shelter to warn off the snow. It would be easy to make, and if enough snow fell on the tree, he could be well-insulated. _

_Even though he was tired and a little shaky, he continued walking towards the trees. He would give anything to fall asleep right now, but it seemed as if his insomnia has come back and it would take another couple of days before he would fall asleep. It didn't bother him that much anymore; he had been sleeping that way ever since the last elections. Everything at his home seemed as if it was at a breaking point, and he would rather not be sleeping on the job when everything finally snapped. He had done that once, and it had not ended well. In fact, it exploded into a four-year civil war that had brought his bottom half to crumbles and his top to go and pick up the pieces. If he could do anything to change that from happening, he would do it. _

_His thoughts then jumped to what would happen if another civil war started. He was sure that the other countries would go and attempt to help him, even though he knew it would be better if he went through wars like that himself. He didn't need for them to help him. He had already been through a civil war by himself, and beyond falling apart on the inside, he had been fine. _

I-I better stop thinking about that… _America thought, shrugging a little in an attempt to get rid of the terrible images that had swept into his head. They were violent, and most of the time those images found their way into his dreams, making it so that a dream about hamburgers turned into a nightmare about civilians killing each other by McDonalds._

_He looked around, trying to figure out which of the large trees was the closest. _

_Instead of trees, he saw a dark figure that was standing about ten feet away from him. It was a female, and she looked as if she was of Native American decent. She was quite tall and America felt as if she was very powerful. A foreboding feeling in his stomach made him wonder if he had met this person before but had forgotten her. _

Is she a country that I have met before…? _America thought weakly. _

_As if she had heard his thoughts, she pointed her finger at him and smiled at him warmly. _

My son, _the woman said. Even though her mouth wasn't moving, he could hear her. Her voice sounded like the chirping birds in the spring and the howling cold of the winter. She seemed to encompass everything in the natural world, and America knew that he had met this lady before. He knew that he had trusted this girl multiple times in the past. _

_This girl…this woman…was...was his mother!_

* * *

Russia was attempting to cook borscht on a small stove with about half the ingredients that were needed to make the dish. He was sure that he was doing this wrong, since he had just made this dish about a month ago back and Russia and had definitely not used corn flakes in the mixture to substitute for something else.

Frowning, he let the pot of his dastardly creation on the stove and walked into the small room that served as his and America's bedroom. It was about a six-by-six foot room with two twin beds about a foot apart from one another. On bed was stripped of every sheet that had been on it and was placed on the other bed in a futile attempt to keep the bundle in the unstrapped bed warm.

Breathing a sigh of fatigue, Russia sat on the stripped bed and closed his eyes. He was tired and cold, and he was pretty sure that General Winter was doing something back in his country as well. Ever since he came here, he had felt terribly cold, and the fact that he was doing nothing about it was making the situation worse. Normally when he felt this cold his boss would let him just lie down all day and do nothing but write and finish his work with a pile of thick blankets wrapped around his body and some warm food always close by.

But of course, not it was different. He could shiver and cough from the cold inside him all he wanted, but no one was going to help him. In fact, he had another charge to worry about.

He had gotten off the train with America in his arms about three days ago, and he had walked to this cabin with the directions that the stationmaster had given him. Apparently, there were empty cabins scattered around the whole north around here to make sure that people who were stranded could stay in the warmth. Russia was quite grateful for that, because he and America were so north that there were no hotels around.

America hadn't done much since he had laid him down on the bed three days ago. He had not eaten or drank anything, nor had he showed anything that might show that he was going to wake up.

"Mom…" America muttered in his sleep, making Russia raise an eyebrow.

_I never knew America had a mother, _he thought curiously, _I only knew that he had England as a father..._

"Wait," the young nation muttered again, shifting in his bed uncomfortably, "Don't leave…"

To that, Russia felt a strange wave of awkwardness. Should he be watching a superpower talk to himself while he was asleep? Strangely enough, he felt as if he was intruding.

_Ah, oh well, _Russia thought, _I have seen other nation sleep during my time as the Soviet Union…_

Almost as soon as he thought that, America lurched up out of his bed, breathing heavily and coughing. He wrapped his arms around the area that he had been stabbed by General Winter and let out a small moan. "Where…where am I?" He then pawed at his face, as if he was trying to find something, "And where is Texas?" He sounded more scared about that than anything else.

Russia quickly switched bed and placed one of his strong hands on America shoulder, squeezing gently in a tired attempt to keep the young nation from freaking out.

"Do not worry, da?" he said conversationally, "You are safe, and we are quite north, following your orders to go as north as possible. I stopped here because we needed to rest a little. And you are fine, da?"

"Russia," America snapped, his voice sounding cold and calculating but open and uncertain at the same time, "I need to find my glasses. You know, Texas. They must have fallen off somewhere and I need them to see. I'm as blind as a bat without them…" his voice then trailed off uncharacteristically, as if he was deep in thought. "Why do I feel so cold? And you feel as if you are freezing, too. Why is your arm shaking, Russia?"

Frowning, Russia looked at his arms and indeed saw that it was, in fact, shaking. He laughed weakly; surprised that America was able to read the atmosphere. _Maybe it is because he has lost his glasses? _He thought weakly.

"You were attacked by General Winter," Russia told him, "And you were stabbed in your stomach area. I was there because I was trying to bribe General Winter to giving me a nice winter. As you can see, it didn't work. When I was running away with you, you must have dropped you glasses or something, because they have not been on your face for quite some time."

"What?" At that point, America sounded utterly lost, as if those glasses were really a part of him. And since he was a nation, Russia had a sinking feeling in his stomach that made him think that perhaps those glasses were a part of his country.

"Does your stomach hurt anymore? I have been cleaning it twice daily since we got here, and I am quite sure that it had been healing correctly," Russia asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Oh, my stomach?" America asked, "Um…it feels fine…it really does. I mean it's nothing compared with things that have happened to me before. Thanks…" The compliment slid off of his tongue slowly, as if he wasn't used to saying his gratitude to people.

"You are welcome," Russia said cheerfully, deciding to disregard the thoughts that were spreading into his mind. He was worried about America, and he didn't really know why. He had felt this way about America for a while, and he had never felt this way before to any other nation. "Does anything else hurt?"

America had to think a bit before he said anything. "I'd like to have some food," he said, "I am a little hungry, too. Here, can you help me get to the kitchen? I'm pretty sure I can cook something if I get there."

"As blind as a bat?" Russia countered, "I doubt you can do anything but get burned."

"I bet I can do it," America insisted, easing himself gingerly out of the bed, "There are a lot of things about me that would surprise you."

"Right now I am not worried about what you want to do," Russia told him, "I am only really concerned about your health." But he helped America walk to the kitchen anyway to make sure that he didn't run into anything.

America quickly got work 'cooking.' As soon as he could find a box of cereal, which was hidden on a shelf, and a bowl from the counter America poured the cereal into the bowl, spilling only a few pieces of the sugar-loaded calories. After that, he stubbornly found a place to sit and grabbed a handful of cereal from the bowl and shoved it in his mouth.

"See?" he muttered though the food, "I can cook."

To that, Russia laughed, "Well, that is better than hamburgers, I think. I am making something better, though, and it is warm."

"Good," America told him, sounding as if he was thinking about something else. "Also, I was thinking that we should start moving tomorrow, even if we are still cold. I have this feeling that we are very close to the place that we need to get to. And besides, there's something that I need to check out something up there…something that I didn't know I had before today."

"And what is that?" Russia asked, deciding that he already knew the answer.

"A mother," America answered suddenly, sounding as if he didn't believe it either, "I think I may have an actual mother."

* * *

Even though the sun was still setting by the time that they decided to go to bed, the cabin was covered in darkness.

After the first time America ran into a wall on the way to the bedroom, Russia decided to, once again, steer him into the room and onto the bed.

Neither of them said anything at first as America got into the bed, and as the younger country closed his eyes Russia decided to walk away.

"H-hey, where are you going to sleep?" America asked, "Because the last time that I checked, there were no covers on the other bed, and you are still freezing you butt off."

"I shall be sleeping on the couch," Russia told him, "Because last night I found it to be very comfy. And besides, we can't both sleep in that small bed."

"We can try," America told him back, "You need some warmth, too. I mean, you're sort of my ally, so I can't have you get sick over me. A-as long as you don't do anything to me while I'm asleep, I'll be fine. But if you do something to be- man, I'm going to nuke whatever parts of your body that you touched me with."

To that, Russia laughed. Really, that bed did sound comfy right now. He had gotten an ache in his back from sleeping in the couch, and those sheets looked very welcoming. "Very well," the older country told America, "Although, I promise you, I do not enjoy getting nuked, so I will try to not touch you. Please scoot over so I can have more room. My land mass is still larger than you, da?"

"Meh," America muttered, scooting over to the other side of the bed, "Good night."

"Good night," Russia muttered, getting underneath the covers and closing his eyes, secretly enjoying the warmth that the young country still had.

To him, it was strange how such a country that was going through such a terrible winter could still hold such nice warmth.

* * *

**So did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Well, if you had any of those feelings while reading this chapter, please tell me about them! I would love to hear them! :D **

**Reviews are my fuel, so the more you review the faster I make my deadline and actually write work that sounds decent! **


	8. I GOT AROUND THE STUPID ERROR MESSAGE!

**Hahaha! I'm done! It took a bit longer than expected, but I wasn't feeling well last week, so I just took a writing break.**

**Long author's note is at the bottom.**

**Diclaimer: I do not own hetalia. If I did, we would know what happened during America's Civil War. **

* * *

"Here," Japan said comfortingly, handing Taiwan a glass of water, "You look pretty stressed."

"Thanks," Taiwan told him, giving him a weak smile but then placing her fingers on the bridge of her nose, as if she was getting a headache.

"Are you feeling all right?" Canada asked worriedly, looking with concern at the smaller country. "I brought some painkillers for America to take, but you may have one if you want. I brought plenty."

"I-I'm feeling fine," Taiwan assured everyone, resting her head on the back of the couch and closing her eyes, obviously not feeling all right.

"You do not look fine to me," Japan insisted, feeling a pang of worry filling into his gut. _What is wrong with Taiwan? _

"Well, it is just that…I'm going to be in so much trouble when I see China again," she moaned, "I mean, he hates me already! Who knows what he will do to me when I get back home?"

To that, Japan smiled, grabbing her wrist and pulling her close. For a moment she forgot to breathe and wondered why he was hugging her so much. And secretly, she hoped that he wouldn't pull away ad they could just stay there like that. Ever since China had taken her in, she learned how dearly she missed Japan and what he did for her. For a long time, she wished that everything would just turn back to the time where she didn't have to worry about anything.

"If China even touches you in a way that you don't want to be touched, just come to me, and I will deal with everything," Japan told her sternly, squeezing her a little tighter.

_Is this really the Japan that I left behind? _Taiwan wondered weakly, feeling her knees go weak; _I don't remember him ever being so…gentlemanly. _For a moment, she wondered how much time he had been working with England recently, because that was about the only gentleman-ish nation she knew.

"O-ok," She said weakly, "Thank you for your words-" _Those very nice words that I really, really needed. Thank you so, so much for them. It's nice to know that there is someone in the world that I can lean to, especially since that person is you._ "But I would rather just lie down right now. I feel a little dizzy."

I was the truth, and she felt an unfamiliar sway of the earth beneath her as she said it. For some reason, she had been feeling a little unbalanced ever since she had come this far north with Canada, Ukraine, and Japan.

"I'll leave you alone, then, so you can sleep. Please take care, because Canada said that tomorrow we will be taking the last leg of the adventure," Japan told her, bowing slightly before he left her room.

They were in a small cabin that was, as far a Taiwan could tell, way too up north for any sane human to be living. They had taken a plane to the farthest north place that was possible and then took a cab the rest of the way to a small village up in the outskirts of any civilization. And, according to Canada, they were close to the spot where America and Russia would be heading.

Truthfully, Taiwan was dizzy and everything because it was a certain time of the month, and instead of being able to just sit down and sip a nice cup of tea while she waited for it to pass like she normally did, she was walking in sub-zero temperatures and eating food that she swore came out of the sewers. Due to those facts, this month's "gift" was leaving her tired and weak, and instead of being calm and composed, she really felt as if she should go and slap someone.

_Why am I here again? _She thought weakly to herself, _oh, right, Canada is worried about his missing brother who was apparently stabbed, I wanted to get away from China, and I wanted to get a little closer to Japan. _

Sure, she had gotten closer to Japan and as far as she could tell, she was miles away from the annoying country that called himself her brother and only guardian. But right now, the pain in her lower abdomen was really making her re-think her motives.

_This is just not my week, _she thought tiredly, stretching out on the couch and breathing slowly in an attempt to relax, _but at least I'm away from China…_

* * *

Russia woke to the sound of someone running into a wall. Immediately after, a sharp pain shot into his back and he realized that his breath was knocked out of him. _So the noise was me, da? _He thought to himself grimly.

"What was that?" America mumbled tiredly, rubbing his eyes in the dim light. It looked as if it was about seven o'clock in the morning.

"Me," Russia gasped, rolling on his side and pushing himself up and onto the bed.

"Ah, sorry about that," America told him, rubbing the back of his neck and sounding apologetic, "I sometimes kick people when I sleep. You should have seen how angry England was when I kept kicking him in the trenches during World War I. Sleep didn't come by that often for me then, so he would normally let it pass, but this one time I ended up kicking him…in a very bad place to be kicked, and he almost pushed me out of the trenches because of it."

As America ran out of things to say and curled up into the warmth of the covers, silence came over the room. Soon, though, America finally found some of the warmth that the Russian had left when he fell out of the covers and continued his rant.

"So, you know, sometimes when I kick people, I end up pushing them out of the bed or whatever. It happened to Canada a lot when we were kids. We used to always be too scared to sleep alone during thunderstorms, so he would sleep in my bed. Most of the time I would end up pushing him out of it. Of course, he would get his revenge by wetting the bed and leaving me alone in it…" America sounded oddly bitter as he said that.

"You would not be a very good bed partner, would you?" Russia asked, sitting on the far corner of the bed, where he was certain America's legs couldn't reach.

To that, America shrugged, "How would I know? Beyond Canada when we were little, I've never slept with anyone."

"Really?" Russia asked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief; he had always thought America had something with the British country when he was little, and that was why he always annoyed the English nation. "And so you would just let me sleep in the bed with you?"

"Well, there has been a wayward France once in a while, but I would usually beat him up for sleeping in my bed, so he has left me alone for quite some time now," America said, frowning, "And as I said last night, we both needed those blankets to keep warm."

"But you did not have to kick me out of it, da?" Russia asked, pretending to be slightly offended. Truthfully, he was feeling slightly joyful that he was one of the only nations to have slept with America. Sure, they had done nothing together, but it was still much better than sleeping on the couch.

"Well, as they say, in like a lamb, out like a lion," America told him, shrugging and rolling over in the bed, "Besides, that's what you get for sleeping with me."

"Someone always gets hurt when they get close to you, da?" Russia asked, shaking the younger nation, who looked as if he was going to go back to bed.

To that, the young nation stayed silent and stretched, yawning loudly and opening his arms wide open. "Only when they sleep with me," America told him, smiling uncaringly, as if he hadn't really understood or was trying not to think about the question, like he normally did.

Ever since the Cold War, Russia had picked up on the trait of his. When Russia's boss had ordered him to spy and get into America's mind to get his secrets, he had first laughed at that. You could ask anyone and they would tell you that the only thing on America's mind were hamburgers and being obsessed with heroes. But once he started spying on the young nation, he learned that he was quite the opposite. He did complicated math and science problems in the basement when he was worried about winning their space race, he taught himself foreign languages to help with the ever-present flow of immigrants into his country, and above all, he cared about others and- as sorry as it is to say- really only thought of helping the people and not caring about it hurting himself (or the other nation) in the process.

Needless to say, during that time Russia learned that the country of America was very different than what the other countries thought of him.

Of course, Russia didn't tell anyone what he had learned from back them. A smart America? One who practiced foreign languages and thought of only helping other people? That was impossible; they would consider him insane. Well, they had always considered him insane, so that wasn't much of a change. But still, he didn't know why America was hiding those facts, and before he told anyone about his Cold War adventures he wanted to know those answers.

"I'm hungry." America's voice threw Russia out of his thoughts and back into the real world, where they were both freezing from the inside out and needed to find someone who was really far up north, because America had a feeling that could just as easily been gas.

"What do you want?" Russia asked, getting up out of the bed and walking into the other room where the small stove was.

"To make my own breakfast," America told him, getting out of bed and walking over to where the shelves were. He started to grope around for the bowls again, where he would promptly find another box of cereal and eat that. Russia couldn't help but notice that his hair was even more unruly than before and was sticking out at odd angles. Without his glasses, America really did look like a big mess.

"Neyt," Russia told him, shaking his head and taking America by the shoulders. He then steered him towards the table and made him sit down on one of the rickety chairs that was by it. "I will make breakfast. What do you want for _me _to make for _you_?" Russia asked again, putting an emphasis on the word 'me' and 'you' to show that there was no questioning in this matter.

To that statement, America promptly stood up quickly, making his chair fall down onto the ground with a loud bang. "I want to make my own breakfast, thank you very much," he said, sounding annoyed and very determined, "Because it is my right to do so and I have not done it in quite some time."

The standoff lasted a couple of seconds, and Russia couldn't help but mildly wonder whether they would argue like this all the time if they became close allies.

"How long is 'quite some time?'" Russia asked, a little curious. He always cooked for himself, even when he was busy. He never trusted anyone to make meals for him, especially when he was sure that the people around him were trying to kill him, like he often did.

To that question, America looked to the ground and his cheeks turned red. "Um…since I ended up burning down that farm of mine a while back and Mrs. Washington, the first lady of my first boss, decided that I was too young to look after myself. Ever since then, the presidential family has taken care of me and cooked for me…" He trailed off uncertainly, as if he didn't want to continue talking about the conversation.

Russia sighed, giving into America. This argument was going nowhere and was for almost nothing, so there was really no point to having it.

"Fine," Russia told him, "But I am going to help you and make sure that you do not burn this place down, da? I would rather not get third-degree burns before I get those freezer burns we might get out there."

"All right," America agreed, running back over to the stove and turning it on quickly, "Now, where is the bisquick? I'm makin' waffles!"

* * *

By the time the sun was at its zenith in the sky, the first group of countries was heading out towards the unknown.

Filled with slightly burnt waffles and pancakes, America and Russia were dressed in at least five layers of clothes that they had found when they had ransacked the cabin. America wore three red-white-and blue scarves that were tightly around his neck and was bundled in at least seven coats. Russia was wearing slightly less clothing; he wore only his trademark scarf and five coats. He had decided that since he knew what to do if he actually got cold, then he would be much safer from the blizzard that was probably be raging outside and had given America his extra coats for comfort.

Right now, neither of them were shaking or feeling at least a little cold. In fact, they were both feeling slightly warm and a little claustrophobic in all of their clothes. In the cabin, America had once muttered something about overheating and started to take off the top coat. That attempt had been quickly stopped by Russia, who had muttered something about absorbing the heat and making America wonder whether getting a fever would solve his problems.

"So…" America breathed, standing on the first porch step, which was already covered in snow. "I guess it's time to go…to bad, I liked that little cabin…it reminds me of something…"

"Like what?" Russia, stepping onto the step with him and slamming the door shut behind him. He had just turned off everything in the cabin and had cleaned up the messes that they had made. He had decided that whoever owned the cabin probably wouldn't have liked to see the mess that they had made and called the police.

"I really don't know," America told him, shrugging, as if he didn't care about it. Although, Russia was pretty sure that the opposite was true. After all, wouldn't you like to know when a place was important to you? It just didn't make sense to him. "But I guess it doesn't matter right now. I feel as if I've got some amnesia that I never knew I had. It's annoying, but, you know, we have more important issues to worry about."

"True," Russia muttered, looking north. As far as he could tell, it was just a vast wasteland of nothing but ice and snow, just like his Siberia. "But yet you know where you are going, da?"

"Yeah," America told him, walking off the porch step, "I know where we are going. We are about fifteen miles south of where we want to be."

"And how do you know this?" Russia asked, curious. He had never developed this ability to know where he was going and how far away he was. Silently he wondered whether America was so tech-ready that he made someone build a GPS into his brain.

"I don't know," America called back uncaringly, "But I know we are going in the right direction."

But Russia was smarter than that. He could tell that America was worried; it was seen by the way he had stopped walking forward and twitched his head from right to left. He knew where he was going, Russia was certain of that. But America didn't know how he knew this.

_Well, either way, we have to do something, _Russia reasoned. And then he quickly rushed down the step and went to go and join America.

* * *

**Hey, so, what did you think of this chapter? it wasn't my best, I'll admit to that, and there are a few things that I need to explain quickly before I let you review:**

**Taiwan's issues: That was me last week. Of course, I didn't have China issues or a caring "boyfriend" to help me with it. I was just feeling crappy and sipping tea. That was why I put it in there...**

**"In like a lamb, out like a lion": Well, that actual saying is "In like a lion, out like a lamb." In Ohio, its truthfully our weather pattern for the month of March. If we get harsh weather at the beginning of the month (i.e. snowstorm), then its really nice the last couple days. But if its really nice in the first days of March, then there is really terrible weather in the last few days of this month (blizzard or thunderstorm). Since its really nice and warm outside (over Sixty degrees these last two days! ha! XD) I'm guessing we're going to get some really bad thrunderstorms that will give us tornadoes, like last year (did that happen last year? I know it happened one of the recent years...). But, yeah, earthquakes in Japan (pray for them, donate to the red cross! That's what i did for them!), famine across the globe, a terrible winter in the US, and probably some tornadoes in Ohio pretty soon...Mother Nature hates us!**

**Bisquick: I don't know if people from other countries know this, but its like the breakfast version of flour. You can make pancakes, waffles, biscuits, scones, dumplings, and really anything else with it. I love it! Its like the answer to the prayers of the people who don't want to go and get fatty fast foods in the morning! XD**

**Also, I noticed that about one third of my viewers to this fic are from Russia and the rest are from America, so congrats! You helped me prove that when you pair two countries together, then you get the majority of viewers from those two countries! And I won five bucks off of my friend in a bet about that! Hahaha! Thank you faithful viewers! I'm going to go and get some more bisquick now! XD I'm making waffles tomorrow! ;D **

**Ah, I should stop making my author's notes so long...but anyway, review please! I would really enjoy it and it helps me write faster! No, really, it makes me write faster! Its been proven by my friends! So you should totally review! **


	9. Give author a cookie, da?

**Diclaimer: I do not own hetalia. 'nuff said. **

**Long author's note is at the bottom. **

* * *

"Hey, guess what I just found!" Canada shouted in his quiet manner, rushing into the cabin's living room excitedly, where everyone else was getting into the snow gear they found in the cabin.

"Russia and America?" Taiwan asked hopefully, not wanting to go into the blizzard that was raging outside.

"Sadly, no, but I found something else that could help," Canada told them softly, "I found some snowmobiles."

"Snowmobiles?" Ukraine echoed, her boobs bouncing as she got up from the couch she was sitting on. "How many of them are there?"

"Three, so two people will have to share one," Canada explained quietly, "I was thinking Japan and Taiwan, since they are the two smallest people here."

"That makes sense," Japan agreed, "And when we find America and Russia…"- he didn't add in the all-important _if _in that equation, since he didn't want to voice his doubt and make his friends more scared about what had happened to their family- "…Canada and Ukraine, you are going to want to take care of them, right?"

"Right," Ukraine and Canada agreed in unison.

"So is everyone ready to go and find America and Russia?" Taiwan asked, "Because all of these coats that I am wearing are really making me feel warm. And I'm sure that it would be better if we find them sooner rather than later."

"Well, then," Japan said, getting zipping up his last coat and pulling his grey hat so that it covered his ears, "Let's go."

* * *

The first five miles were perfectly fine for Russia and America. There were no strong breezes or any falling snow to fall into their faces. Due to this favorable weather, their strides were quick and rhythmic, and Russia even had to keep reminding America to not run or else he would lose all of his energy and be unable to walk the rest of the way.

They were walking about two meters away from each other, but once in a while they would brush up against each other and make sure that the other nation was able to keep on walking. They were careful-well, at least Russia was- to not run and use up all of their energy.

"I can live with this," America said enthusiastically, smiling brightly, "And I'm actually feeling a little warm in all of these clothes. If this keeps up, I might even have to take one of my coats off."

"I would not like that," Russia warned, "It might get colder soon. In my land, sometimes weather like this shows that there is worse weather coming. And besides, we still need to keep the wound of yours warm. Even though you may not like it, General Winter gave you that thing, so it probably will get colder as times goes on. Even though you say it is warm, the part where General Winter stabbed you is still cold, da?"

"Only a little," America grumbled, "But it doesn't feel as bad as it did before. It felt much worse this morning, but now I'm barely noticing it. I can't believe we still have ten miles to walk, though. And there are no McDonalds out here, so I can't get anything to eat!" He huffed loudly and crossed his arms in anguish.

"How come you eat so much? It must be bad for your health, and you cannot possibly be hungry all the time, da?" Russia asked, curious to whether or not he would get an answer out of the younger nation. Normally America was very touchy on the subject, but now that they had been through so much Russia hoped that the younger nation would trust him more.

An icy coldness quickly settled upon the two, and after a while Russia decided that perhaps he had asked too much out of the smaller nation. Perhaps they were not as good of friends that Russia had thought of before. Somehow, that made him very miserable.

"Please don't tell anyone about this," America said loudly, "And-heck; I don't even know why I'm telling you this. But…you know how I've been in a depression for a while?"

"Da," Russia told him, his chest feeling quite light now that America was talking to him again, "It's a terrible problem, and I hope you get out of it soon…" he trailed off, unsure of where America was going with it.

"Everyone does," America agreed, frowning. He stopped and then kicked a large chunk of ice that had been stuck to the ground. Because of the force, it leaps at least fifteen feet away from where it had originally been. "It's a terrible nuisance to the world. I should be able to take care of myself, but I can't. People are talking of a lot of things in my country that a lot of foreigners don't know about. There's talk of another civil war or revolution-depending on which way you look at it- and people…well, I really doubt that the other countries would stay out of this civil war that would probably happen because of what I've been doing to the other countries. When all of those countries get together and fight in my land…I can't help but think that soon there is going to be a WWIII in my land…and when I get worried about this stuff, I tend to eat a lot. I can't help it. It just stops the nerves for a while."

"America," Russia said, stopping in his tracks and grabbing the smaller nation's wrist. "I really doubt that it is really that bad. All depressions make nations think about that stuff."

"It's worse in my country. I feel as if I'm following in the footsteps of Germany before WWII. I mean, do you have the Nazis 'protecting' your southern border?" America snapped angrily, his voice almost sounding like a feral growl. He tried to pull away from Russia's grip, but then his face twisted in pain and he grabbed his coat where his wound was, moaning and falling to the ground.

"Nyet, I do not," Russia told him, crouching next to him and putting his hand on America's shoulder. He placed his other hand over the wound, pressing on it gently. "How much does it hurt?" he asked.

"Only a little sore…" America hissed, getting back up, "I just didn't expect it. I was so angry that I didn't notice it at first. I'll be more careful about it now."

"Good," Russia muttered, helping America ease himself up off of the ground, "Tell me if you have any other pains. If it gets to be more than you can bear, tell me, da?"

"Yeah, I'll tell ya…" America muttered, starting to walk forward again. "Ten more miles to go…" he sighed gloomily, "And no food…I guess that will be my motivation."

They walked again in silence, both worrying about their own thoughts. Russia was thinking about what America had told him.

_Another World War? _He couldn't help but think, _America must be insane to think that will happen to his country…but then again, he doesn't complain about his politics that much. Perhaps he is too worried about fixing his mess to tell others about it. After all, he didn't tell anyone about his problems before his Civil War. _

"America?" Russia asked tentatively, wondering if America was still seething about their earlier conversations.

"Yes," America answered back, not turning to look at the older country.

"If you go into that war that your worried about happening," Russia told him, frowning, "And that is a big 'if,' da?" When America didn't answer back, Russia continued talking. "I will be on your side. That will be fine, da?"

To that, America sighed. He then turned to face the larger country and frowned. "Russia…that's what I don't want to happen…the more countries that come into this war would mean the closer it would get to be a World War."

* * *

After walking about a few more miles, what Russia had been dreading all along was finally setting in. At first, only a few isolated flakes were floating down from the sky and only Russia noticed the slight difference in weather.

The problem started another mile in, when the wind started to pick up. The snow that was piled on top of the surrounding glaciers started to fall off of the ice and fall into their faces.

At that point, a strange itch started to form in the back of Russia's throat and he started to cough weakly. _This has not happened since I was a child… _he thought to himself grimly, _what is General Winter doing to my country? _

"Hey, Russia, are you all right?" America asked, a little bit of fear creeping into his voice, "Y-you know I can't carry you there…"

"You just stuttered," Russia told gasped between coughs, "You are ill, da?"

"N-not as ill as you," America retorted, "And besides, I'm not that cold y-yet. I-I'm just stuttering."

"Which means that you are cold," Russia told him, starting to take off his top jacket. "Here, take this," he muttered, coughing into his elbow.

"N-no," America insisted, pulling the coat back onto the larger nation, "Y-you should protect your chest. That's w-where your lungs are. The colder they get, t-the more you cough. I-I don't want you to die because of me."

"And who said anything about dying, little one?" Russia asked, "I do not think that we are going to pass out anytime soon, da?"

"Yes, b-but if you keep coughing, you might faint. I d-don't want to carry you all the way there. I-I don't think I'm strong enough for that," America told him, worry evident in his voice, "W-we're fine as we are. S-sure, we're going to get very cold, but we will be there soon…"

"How many more miles," Russia asked, hoping for both his and America's sake that it wasn't too far away.

"Umm…" America muttered, rubbing his temples and concentrating, "About five miles…" he sounded distraught, as if he really didn't think they would make it that far.

"Well, little one, what hurts the most right now, and let me see if I can help with that. We'll soon be moving again," Russia said, forcing himself to stop coughing and pull himself back up to standing position.

"M-my eyes. They hurt when I don't have glasses on, and besides, e-everything is blurry anyway. The ice is s-stinging them…" America stated, rubbing his eyes to prove his point and grimacing.

"Here, then, little one, let me tie a scarf around your eyes. That will protect them from getting hurt," Russia told him, reaching out, taking a scarf off of his neck-and not caring about the sudden rush of coldness that it brought to his nape- and placing it over America's eyes. "Close them, please, little one."

Doing as he ordered, America closed his eyes. Russia then gently placed the scarf over the little nation's eyes and tied the piece of cloth tight so it didn't move. "Is that better?" the older nation asked.

"Much…I-I don't feel the ice now…thanks," the now blind nation told him, "And how are you feeling?"

"Fine, only s little cold on my lips and toes, but beyond that, I am fine," Russia told him, shrugging even though he knew the other country could not see the movement.

"I can fix that!" America shouted, sounding excited. Then he promptly places his hand on Russia face, as if he was feeling for something.

_Is…is America trying to kiss me? _Russia thought quickly, feeling his heart race a little bit in anticipation for what he thought was about to happen. He then grabbed America's hand furiously and placed it on his mouth, excited for what he thought was coming.

_Now I get it. I have been so worried about America's well-being because I was in love with him. That was the whole point of doing all of this. How long have I been in love with him? I have felt this way for such a long time…during the Cold War, WWII? Nyet, nyet, nyet…I felt this way even before that. I have loved the idiot even before I learned he was a genius. Then I think this feeling started really early, because I always thought this feeling was just what I felt when I saw that young nation…wait, it was what I always thought about him. I…I have felt this way ever since I first saw him. I have been feeling this way for over two centuries? Huh, and the other nations thought America was dense. _Russia thought, frowning to himself.

A mouthful of cloth then broke Russia out of his reverie. _What? _Russia thought, grabbing at the cloth and pulling it away from his face, _where did America's lips go?_

"H-hey, I was just trying to help. You said they were cold, r-right? Well, my eyes were cold a-and you tied a scarf around them," America complained.

"T-that was not what I was t-thinking about," Russia explained.

"America!" a soft voice called out from the snow, "Russia, can you hear me?"

"Did you hear something?" America asked, cocking his head in the way the voice had come from.

"Da," Russia agreed, "I heard something. Get behind me. If we have to fight, then it would be better if I fought this thing first. You are still pretty weak, and you are blind. It would be best if someone who could see fought this thing, da?"

"America! Russia!" another voice called, accompanied by the sound of drums. "Can you hear us? We are here to help you! Canada knows where the place is, too! Please, if you hear us, shout!"

"That's my sister," Russia gasped, not really believing what he was hearing.

"Should we shout?" America asked, "I d-don't believe it…"

"Da," Russia assured him, "I cannot mistake that drum sound anywhere else. It's my sisters…" he then decided not to elaborate on the subject, especially since he was pretty sure America knew what he was talking about anyway. "Ukraine!" he shouted instead, "Come over here! America is here too!" At that, he started coughing again and had to stop shouting.

"U-Ukraine!" America shouted in his stead, "Ukraine, over here! I-Is Canada with you, too? I-I thought I heard your voices."

"Ukraine!" A voice that sounded very familiar called from the distance.

* * *

"I heard something," Taiwan shouted instinctively, "Cut off the engines and shut up! I thought it sounded a little like Russia!"

Doing as she said, the rest of the group shut off their snowmobiles' engines and listened. This time, the voice they heard belonged to America:

"Ukraine, over here! I-Is Canada with you, too? I-I thought I heard your voices."

"We found them," Japan said, sighing with relief, "Now we can get everyone out of the cold."

"Amen to that," Canada agreed, his voice barely heard above the wind, "Now let's go and get them, eh?"

* * *

**So basically I was aiming to write this chapter into two parts, but then I realised that I really didn't haevt eh time for it. I started to learn how to play an Oboe, and I need to be capeable of playing all of it in about two months, so I'm pretty worked up about that. Also, I'm behind on my writing schedule, so I'm a little OCD about that type of thing...basically, I have three fanfics to finish before the summer ends, and even though this fanfic is almost done, the other two are not as far (or well) written, so I really want to start focusing on them soon. Next year, I'm going to be up in my eyeballs with homework. But the good thing is that I will get two years of collage done before I'm done with high school! :D **

**On another note, two more chapters yet. And I'm sorry about the no-kiss scene. I was jsut feeling hungry, and I tend to very malicious when I'm hungry...so no happy kiss-kiss scene. Also, I tend to write better when I write about stuff I know about (hence, terrible winter), and I've never kissed or gone out with anyone...I know, I'm sad...*goes on rant about why I'm too scared to go on one* ): **

**Other Notes:**

**Depression: If you don't know about this, then you are really isolated from the rest of the world. I was just reading the newspapers (about three of them to get all sides of the issues :)) and appearently, the US might have a government shutdown on Friday (or next week if they pass something). I really doubt that any wars/ uprisings will come out of this, but, you know, a person who is the country would probably be very worried abou this. **

**Nazis protecting border: Yeah, appreantly they aren't welcome, but they are protecting the Arizona border. Appreaently, they are just finding and turning in illegal immigrants, but still, they're not look it up if your curious. I was looking at their leader eariler because I was curious if he looked like Hitler (just wondering...), and...well...the American version of the Nazis (Neo-Nazis) have a lot to be desired. **

**WWIII Theory: Yeah, just think to yourself "if America really got into another civil war, then would the other countries stay out of it?" My answer to that was no. If you want to see what I think could be the end of that fake war, then go look at my To Kill a Country fanfiction. That story is better than this one, I swear! **

**Russian love story: I might have gotten people to think that Russia started to love America durign teh Cold War, but I'm a fond hater of love at first sight, so of course Russia doesn't know when he acutally fell in love with America. He just knows that he's in love with the young nation. **

**Go and review! Please? Only two chappies left! If you haev gone this far, then you can definately finish and review the rest of these chapters! **


	10. I did not get any cookies D:

**Author's note is at the bottom, and this time, it isn't long! XD **

**Discaimer: 我没有自己的hetalia (I do not own Hetalia.)**

**Anowara ko'wa= My Native American decent friend told me that was what most of the Natives called America. I don't know any native languages, so I'm jst going to trust him on this one. **

* * *

"Oi, America, Russia, we are here to help you guys!" Japan called out from the snowy landscape.

Russia could barely make out the silhouettes, but he could see that there were three vehicles moving towards them. Two of the vehicles held only one person, and one of the snowmobiles held two people, with one clinging on another.

"T-t-that's Japan," America muttered, "I-I-I don't know why or how, but h-h-he found us. Who else is w-w-with him?"

His question was soon answered, because within seconds the motor vehicles were within ten feet of the two cold countries and the passengers leapt off of their machines.

"Russia, are you all right?" Ukraine asked, wrapping her arms around her younger brother in desperation to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Da," Russia told her, "I am fine. Please, do not worry about- "As soon as he said that, he doubled over as a sharp, cold pain pierced his chest and he started to cough.

"R-Russia!" Ukraine gasped, rubbing his back with her palm and trying to pull her brother back up to make him breathe better, "You are cold and tired. You have not coughed like that since we were little. Come on, you can ride on the back of my snowmobile. From what Canada has said, we will be to our place in about two hours. You can live with that, right…right?"

"D-da," Russia growled, "I can live with that, but what about America?"

"I-I will be fine," America called out, "A-and guess what? Canada h-has my glasses! They are a l-little cracked, but that i-is better than having no glasses."

Russia looked over at the North American brothers. They were both hugging each other and it looked as if Canada was crying. America was probably crying, too, but his eyes were covered by the scarf, so no one could tell.

"I missed you," Canada told him softly, squeezing America as if he didn't believe he was really holding his brother.

"I m-missed you too. Hmm…you're warm…I wish I was the same way," America murmured wishfully.

"We can fix that in about two hours. Is that all right?" Canada asked.

"We don't have an option, really. It would take longer for us to get back to the cabin. Truthfully, I don't even remember where it is…" America told him, "I-If I fall asleep on the way, d-don't worry about me. Get us there. I-I want to see my mother."

To that, Canada chuckled. "All right, what you are saying somewhat makes sense. But if you start to turn blue, then we might have to stop to take care of you."

"That s-sounds fine," America said, breaking the hug and walking towards the head snowmobile. "I'm ridin' this o-one, right?"

"Yes, you and me are sharing one, Ukraine and Russia are taking one, and Japan and Taiwan and using the last one," Canada explained.

"Let's go, then. I'm freezing my butt off," America said, starting to walk towards the snowmobile.

* * *

As soon as Canada and America told everyone that they were halfway there, Russia started to get another coughing fit. He started to feel dizzy and tired, and he started to let go of Ukraine.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ukraine asked, feeling his arms start to let go of her and hearing his coughing. "We are almost there, Russia, please do not give up yet. Take deep breaths and stay awake. Whatever you do, do not let go of me, or else you are going to fall of this machine." She sounded very worried.

After taking a couple deep breaths, he finally got control of his breathing.

"This has not happened to me in such a long time…" Russia muttered, struggling to not cough.

"Just stay awake. We will get there soon. Please, little brother, stay awake for me," Ukraine pleaded, "You can do that, right?"

"Da," Russia told her softly, placing his head on her shoulder and feeling very exhausted.

After that small event, time seemed to melt and hours turned into minutes. Russia was sure that he could stay comfortable on this snowmobile for forever if he wished. His body went numb and he no longer saw any difference between one area of snow-covered landscape and another. He then no longer heard the conversations Canada and America were having or what Ukraine said to him, and he barely replied to anything. And slowly, darkness surrounded and came into his vision.

* * *

"Seriously, though, you weren't hurt at all during the Trail of Tears?"

"No, no, not at all."

"But I know what you are saying is wrong. I even felt sick during that time. You and your people were shoved off your land…because of me. Please, I know you are lying."

"Then why are you asking me this, Anowara ko'wa? If you already know the answer, then why do you ask me these things?"

"Because I like hearing your voice. It is nice to see you again, even though I can never remember you. And I feel terrible for what I did. You can yell at me if you want. It seems as if the rest of the countries are doing that quite a lot nowadays."

Russia barely recognized the voices, but he could tell that one of the voices belonged to America. The other one was more melodic and old, as if it belonged to something even older than China. The vice also sounded female and had a strange accent to it, resembling a person who was still trying to learn a language that was not native to them.

He felt slightly warm, and he was lying down on a mat bed that was probably made from animal skins. Russia was also covered from head to foot in at least five layers of different animal skins. He was lying in a large tent along with all of the other countries, who were sleeping in other animal pelts. Taiwan and Japan were even sharing a large bed, in which Russia found quite interesting.

_Should I tell China about that? _Russia thought, amusing himself with thoughts of an angry China beating up Japan or vice versa. _They could go and destroy each other, and then I would get their lands. I could always share with America if he wanted for us to share. I just have to make sure America doesn't get pulled into the war they would have. He's getting into a lot of wars recently…I should keep him out of that one…_

"But even though we have had our differences, I still love you. And England probably does, too-"

"Is he really my brother?" America cut off the melodic voice with his innocent question.

_America really doesn't know who his family is? That must be harsh…_Russia considered, thinking about how bad life would be if he didn't know who his sisters were.

"Maybe, maybe not. But he loves you, anyway, so you do not need to worry about that. Even though you two may not be blood brothers, he loves you and considers you family anyway. That's the only thing that you need to know," the woman explained.

At about this time, Russia finally looked at the woman America was talking to. She was wearing traditional Native American clothing and a long, woven blanket on her shoulders to stay warm. She had a large grin on her face, as if she was happy that she was seeing some long-lost family members. She did not look very old, but the look of her eyes gave away the knowledge that is learned from many centuries of life.

"So, I'm only related to Canada and you, right?" America asked, shifting in his bed.

"Yes, Anowara ko'wa, as far as I'm concerned. But still, does it really matter all that much who your relatives are? There can be people who love you who are outside your family, too," the woman told him, smiling and patting his head for reassurance.

"I guess…oh!" America shouted, remembering something else, "How come Canada and I always forget you?"

To that, the girl gave her son a small smile, as if she was thinking about something depressing but she still wanted to be happy because she was with someone she loved. "I like it up here, and you love it down there. I have some bad memories about being down there, and even though I know it's changed, I am still nervous of going down there. I don't want to see how it's changed. To me, North America is still full of lush plains and beautiful forests. I feel as though I will not be able to go back down, because I don't want to see how everything has changed," the woman explained.

"Yes, I get that," America said, frowning, "But some things have changed for the good. There are no slaves anymore, and the Natives are mostly let alone-"

"I know, but I don't want to see those changes," she reiterated.

"But, Mother Nature, I guess I get why you don't wanna come see us. I guess I can get that, but why can I not remember you, and how come when I was hurt I could remember this place, but not why I wanted to come here or what was here?" America asked, curious.

To that, she smiled again and ran her hands down America's face. To Russia, it seemed as if she was trying to remember or perhaps see something in her son. "You were such a cute baby," she murmured, "But how come you are not smiling anymore?"

"I'll answer your question if you answer mine," America told her, crossing his arms and pursing his lips, as if he was very annoyed and would not do anything until someone did what he asked.

"Fine," Mother Native replied, "You never remember me because nature is easy to forget. It's the background of every story, but no one really focuses on it. You saw a blizzard when you came here, right? But you didn't see the spirit that was there. You don't believe in those spirits…so sometimes people forget about these people, and then they forget about me. I don't mind that too much, though, so please, don't worry yourself over it. And how you remembered this place? Well, I heard once that when people are hurt, they immediately want to go home. Maybe since you forget me, you only thought of this place as your home. But I think that some spirits brought you to me."

"Maybe," America murmured to himself, frowning in thought, "I guess that makes sense."

"Please, do not worry yourself over this, Anowara ko'wa," Mother Nature cooed, shifting herself so she was sitting next to her son. She then hugged him warmly, smiling to herself as she hugged him. "I answered my question, so now answer mine."

"Fine," America told her, looking at his mother as if he still didn't believe she existed, "I'm not smiling because I'm worried. I have to think about so many different things- border patrol, abortion, pollution, my three war fronts, trying not to get into wars with other nations, religion, budget stuff, education, and so many other things. I feel as though I'm being pulled apart from the inside. And I know I have to help everyone at all times. I had thought that I had got that down, but then…eh…" He shifted closer to her and wrapped his hands around her shoulders for comfort, "I realized that I had really forgotten about myself. I hadn't eaten outside of meetings because I was talking with someone else that I needed to be more professional around. And I had never slept easily so at first I didn't notice this, but then I realized that I was not sleeping at all during the night, only taking a ten minute nap in a meeting if I was lucky. Canada told me to start worrying about this stuff, but I didn't for a while. Other people are more important than me and they had their problems, so why should my personal issues hamper my help?" He then stopped talking for a second and then shivered, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt get warmer.

In response, Mother Nature took the blanket from her shoulders and wrapped it around her son. "Are you still cold?" She asked, "Let me get you something that could help. Or Russia could stop pretending to sleep and help me find some more blankets.

To that, Russia became beat red and sat up, deciding that it was no use pretending that he was asleep now that he had been found out. "How did you know I was awake?" he asked.

"You snore when you sleep," Mother Nature replied, "So when you stopped snoring I knew you were awake."

"I snore?" Russia asked, looking over at America for confirmation.

"Yes, you do," America told him, smiling slyly, "I just thought you knew that already."

"But that is not important right now," Mother Nature interrupted, "Anowara ko'wa, you still have to finish your story. Russia, please help me find the rest of my blankets."

"Oh, I guess I do have to finish telling you what happened," America realized, "Well, I finally figured that it was a problem when I first passed out. I was talking with England one second, and then I was in a hospital with someone pumping vitamins and water into me the next. After that, I decided that I was focus on myself for a bit, but then I noticed that everyone else started to get angry at me because I wasn't caring about them as much. And then…Canada was attacked by General Winter, I came to save him because, well, he's my younger brother. I don't think I would be able to live without him. I then got stabbed by General Winter-"

"General Winter!" Mother Nature snarled, interrupting America in the middle of his story, "He is such a mean person. We had attempted to talk and become friends this summer, but then I figured out that all he wanted to do was make it so that winter was the only season. That wouldn't work for the world. It barely worked once. So, I decided to stop talking with him. The last time I saw him, he told me that he would murder one of you. I'm sorry that I didn't warn you about him before this all happened."

"I-Its fine," America told her, "I at least got to see you again, and no one died, so everything ended up all right. But then that happened, so I'm pretty sure that everyone is angry at me now because I'm not there helping them out."

"They should not need your help, da?" Russia told America, "If they do, then they just need to merge with you."

"I don't think that would work," America argued, "And besides, I'm pretty sure that my expansion days are over, so what is the point of that?"

"Then you should just leave them alone. You are worried about yourself, so you should focus on yourself for now. You are not the police person of the world. Is that not the UN's problem?" Mother Nature asked, frowning.

"I guess," America muttered, "But it's hard not to worry about others."

"Then rethink your alliances. Figure out which ones really need you and the ones that do not. I am sure that you can find some nations that can support themselves," she said, "That makes sense to you, right?"

To that, America nodded.

"And you have all winter to figure all of this out, so rest now. You are safe here," Mother Nature told him, smiling sweetly and taking a couple blankets from the side of the tent and giving them to America.

"All right," America said, snuggling himself into the new layers of fur and enjoying the warmth that they brought.

"I love you, Anowara ko'wa," she told him, smiling.

To that, America looked over at her and smiled back. "I love you too."

* * *

**So, did you like it? I was trying to get an "awwww" moment at the end of this chapter, so did it work? I've never written an "awwww" moments before...**

**So, I only have one chapter left, so you should totally review me so I can write it faster! I'll probably have this next chapter done tomorrow. I've already written a couple paragraphs for it, so I should be done sometime soon...but then again. I Just remembered how I need to do my homework that I had conveniently "forgotten" when I was writing this fanfic. Its due tomorrow...meh.**

**So, please review me! And if there are any questions about this fanfic that you didn't understand or anything, please feel free to PM me (or just write a review about it. That always works, too.) Reviews are my fuel!**


	11. Yay! I gotta biscuit and a cookie! XD

**Hey, sorry for the long wait! I had band, schoolwork, homework, and the school's poetry slam to worry about, so I was pretty busy. Don't worry, though, because this is my last chapter! Now go read one of my other fanfictions after your done! XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own hetalia. MattsyKunTehZebra gave me the idea of a hot tub, but that's about it. Oh! And my friend (who better review this chapter) gave me the idea at the end. **

**Ten brownie points if anyone can find the Pokemon reference! ;D**

* * *

_As time normally does, it passed, and even though General Winter has always tried, he would never be able to freeze time. So as time passed, the winter passed, and soon America and his gang were saying good-bye to Mother Nature and promising a safe return home. _

_And soon, everything went back to normal. Well…almost normal._

* * *

"OK, so everyone listen up, because Russia and I are back, and we need to make some changes around here!" America shouted, quieting the room down. He had just had a tearful reunion with his 'older brother,' England, and now that they were both happy and England explained that he had America' back no matter what happened, America now had to put his plan into action.

Russia had not entirely heard America's plan, but only chunks of it. Apparently, most of America's north was encased in ice, so he was going to need help thawing parts of his cities out. He also needed help getting out into the country where there weren't so many roads and snowplows and dig his citizens out from their homes. He had a role for every country to fulfill, and if everyone agreed and helped America, all of his citizens would be out of danger in a flash.

"I really need some help right now. And even if you hate me or love me, please help. If everyone works together, then my citizens will be out of harm's way really fast, and that would be really heroic of you. I mean, I'm the hero, but all of you can be heroes, too," America started, shifting through his notes. "Now, Switzerland, do you still have that storage area full of seeds of every plant in case we destroy the world in WWIII, right?"

"Yes," Switzerland answered back automatically. He looked as if he was going to say something more, but America cut him off.

"Then could you please give some of them to my farmers? I have tons of reports of the cold winds taking away the seeds that the farmers had put away in barns and greenhouses cracking and caving in under all of the snow that had been piled on the glass. I'm worried about the amount of food that my farmers are able to grow because of all of their lost seeds. Could you help will the US Department of Agriculture and other farming unions and give them the seeds and crops they need to grow enough plants to support our population?" America asked, "You can ask for help from a lot of other countries if it gets to be too much for you. Ukraine said that she would help out in that area, too."

"Yes, I can help," Switzerland answered, "But I will need help."

"All right, well, let me continue assigning job for everyone- if they want jobs- and then I'll give you the list of everything we need- roughly. Everything is up in the air, since I just got back from my…um…safe spot. Anyway, please just listen to me and tell me whether or not your nation can handle the job I assign to you. Also, my government and I have decided that we need to rethink my foreign relations. Please, I need to talk to everyone privately about all of this, so if you could just sign your name on this clipboard for when you have free time and can talk to me, please do. If you cannot do that, then I will just use my new foreign relations without your consent. I was just hoping that my heroic self could talk to everyone before I restarted my life," America told everyone, grabbing a clipboard with blank lines and times next to them and passing them over to Norway. "Any questions?" he asked, "Because if not, then I really need to go and help my people."

"I have one," China said, "Is it true that Japan tried to take my Taiwan again?"

"Your Taiwan?" America asked, looking appalled at the sound of it, "Um, China, even though you own Taiwan, you don't have to treat her as an item. That's just rude. And besides, if Japan loves Taiwan, then that's something you guys need to work out, not me. But if you guys do get into a war, then trading will probably be stopped for my country. People don't like buying stuff from countries in war."

"Then how do your citizens buy stuff from your country? You're in three wars!" Someone shouted from the far side of the table, where most of the Middle East countries normally sat.

"To that, America flashed his normal Hollywood-looking smile. It looked as if he had the best new in the world stored in his head. "If one of the countries that I'm in war with said that, then I've got some news for you."

And with that, he bolted out of the room, muttering something about putting his country back together, to which no country doubted he intended to do.

* * *

Feeling a little odd that he was only wearing purple swim trunks underneath his long coat, Russia walked into the room that supposedly held the president's hot tub.

Earlier this morning, he had gotten a text message from American that told him to come to this place. When he first glanced at the message, he couldn't help but laugh. The first sentence that he read was: _"Hey, I thought you might still be cold from the winter. Wanna come by my boss' hot tub to warm up?"_

But then he noticed that there was more to the text message: _"I really need to talk to you about something. I've noticed that I have been feeling something for a while and I would like to tell you about it. Who knows, maybe this will being us more together?"_

When he read that, he couldn't help but to go to the nearest store and buy some swim trunks. He was curious to what America was going to tell him, and he couldn't help but hope that it was a declaration of love. If that was to happen- well, let's just say Russia would be very happy.

And so, he was now in America's boss' hot tub and was waiting for the young nation to join him. He had gotten other text messages later on in the day that explained how he wasn't going to be there on time- even though he will try as hard as possible to get there- but he had a lot of things to do to get his country back on their feet. He had a lot of things on his plate at the moment, and because of this, he was going to be about fifteen to thirty minutes late to get there. He would try to get there as soon as possible, though, and he didn't mind if Russia got in before him.

So Russia got into the hot tub, trying to not think about his now seeable skin and all the scars his body held. He was old compared to the young nation, and his scars proved it. He held scare from about everything, from Napoleon's invasion to Stalin's reign and everything else in between. His chest was the worst part, though. It had been burned down and many times, and the part of his skin that was above his chest had turned an eerie black-ish color from all the fires that had come from that history.

"Hey! Russia! I'm finally out from my meeting!" America shouted, running into the room and slamming the door shut.

"And how was it?" Russia asked, "Annoying and worthless, da?" From what America had told him, his government was full of people who couldn't agree on anything.

To that, the young country chuckled. "Hey, could you turn around and not look at me for a second?" he asked, "I have to change into my swim trunks."

"Da," Russia told him, turning around in the water. "So how was your meeting?"

"Just like you said," America confirmed, "Aggravating and time-consuming. Some people want it so that only Americans are taking care of themselves- you know, to keep down my debt- but other people keep saying about how many people are dying and that we need help from everyone and stuff like that. But, you know, everyone is right in this debate, and everyone is wrong, too. They are right in thinking about my debt. Everyone is worried about what will happen when China wants his money back, but we still need to worry about my people's safety."

"So it was worthless?" Russia summed up.

"Yeah, I guess, but we have a time limit on everything, so we will be making a decision tomorrow. Everyone's opinions were heard today, and the voting will come soon. I'm pretty sure we'll choose a happy medium between the two ideas, so everyone is going to be happy. You can look back now," America told him.

Russia turned back around and quickly noticed the shorts America was wearing. It was red, white, and blue and looked as if America had fashioned one of his own flags into a pair of swim trunks. Russia couldn't help but smile as he thought of how the young America probably bought that pair of shorts- or, better yet, made them.

But then America jumped into the hot tub, and Russia had to cover his head to make sure he didn't get splashed.

Once the wave subsided, he looked back at the young America and this time he noticed something curious; a burn mark one she spot where his heart is supposed to be. He also noticed that as young as he was, America had about as many scars as he did.

"Since you have not had a war on your land for such a long time, how come you have so many scars?" Russia asked innocently. True, it wasn't exactly a great way to start a conversation, but if America was about to tell him what he thought he would say, it would be nice to get that awkward conversation out of the way.

"A war here, a war there…oh, you mean the one over my heart?" America asked, shrugging, "Britain burned my capitol to the ground during the War of 1812. And then it was attacked again…" He then looked down at his stomach. "I can't believe you didn't ask me about this scar, though."

In turn to that, Russia looked down at where America was looking. He couldn't help but notice one thing before he actually saw the scar: America had abs. And not those flimsy abs that everyone boasts about but are not really abs. No, he had a six-pack that looked pretty hard-core. Inwardly, Russia wondered what the rest of America's body looked like.

Trying to hide a blush, Russia finally decided to look at where America was pointing. Along the bottom on his chest and around his waist, there was a deep, red, definite scar. It may have been because of America's now pale skin, but it looked as if it was still very scarlet, as if it had just healed over.

"That is not the wound General Winter gave you, da?" Russia asked. _Because if it is, then I am going to murder General Winter for hurting the one I love._

To that, the young nation frowned. "Nah, I got this one hundred and fifty years ago, almost to date. The American Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression, or the War Between States, depending on where you live. For some reason, it keeps on bugging me, even though it has been such a long time that war happened. But…you know…I don't mind it that much. It lets me know that my citizens still have some fight in them. They are still ready to protect their freedoms. You know what I mean? I think I'd actually be more worried if this scar stopped itching."

"Nyet, I do not know what you are talking about," Russia told him, slightly confused, "Because all of my scars stopped hurting after a while. Perhaps you should get that one checked out by a doctor, da?"

To that, he shrugged again. "It's been doing this for a hundred and fifty years. I really doubt it's going to heal now. But…anyway, that is not why I asked you to come here today. I need to ask you something."

Hearing that, Russia scooted a little closer to the younger nation, ready to hear whatever he was about to say. _Surely he loves me? _Russia thought, _because I love him back. That was probably why we had the Cold War in the first place. There was a lot of—what does France call it when he and England are having an argument—sexual tension. It would be great if we could get rid of that now, da? _

"Da, what is it, young America?" Russia prompted.

"Well, you know how Mother Nature told me to re-think my political ties? Well, while I was thinking this winter I realized that someone kept popping into my thoughts over and over again. At first, that country was not really important to me, but now…well, I need to tell them something," America told him, "You know what I mean?"

"Da," Russia told him, feeling a warm feeling growing in his body that wasn't from the warmth of the hot tub.

"Well, I am wondering if this person likes me back, so I am going to ask you about it, since you know this country very well…" America explained, starting to hesitate a bit, "Please, please don't laugh at me when I tell you this. I've never told anyone something like this before.

_If he is talking about me, I know myself very, very well, _the older country thought, feeling very happy, _I'll take America to a very nice dinner later and then we'll do some other things tonight. I'll make sure China stops bugging him about his debt and then America will help me with the military. We could fix the whole world's problems together if we really wanted to, but we could always just stay alone in a cottage together. As longs as we are together, I will be happy. _

"Da, I probably do know this person. I will not laugh at you, I promise," Russia assured him. _And if someone laughs at us, I will beat them to a pulp. That sounds like fun, da? _

America took a long breath, as if he was about to tell the Russian something very serious, like the codes to his nukes. "Russia, I-I really, really like your sister Belarus. She's so pretty and strong, and she knows how to defend herself if she needs to…I-I think I love her. C-could you please help me get her to go out on a date with me?"

* * *

**...and then you can guess what happens next. XD Ok, for thos ehwo don't know, I'm a big closet USA/Belarus fan. I don't know why (maybe it has to do with both of them being very violent and crazy?), but this ending made me happy!~**

**This is actually the second fanfiction that is more then one chapter that's I've actually finished! I owe it all to you guys! I love all of you!**

**So please review this and tell me how I did! This was a really fun fanfiction to write, and even though I lost sleep over this because I was writing so much, I really enjoyed every moment of writing this fanfiction. You guys are such marvelous reviewers. Many of your reviews have made me laugh and have actually made my day in some cases. Thank you for making this fanfic really worthwhile to do! :D**

**Ciao~! **

**~Mossmoon**


End file.
